Content of Dreams from WWII POWs

Abstract

This article examines the content of dreams from British officers held in Laufen, a Nazi POW camp, during the years 1940–1942. The POW's dreams have more content concerning battles, imprisonment, escape, and food than the Hall and van de Castle male norms from the same era. The POW dreams do not have as much of any type of social interaction. Their dreams contain less friendliness, sexuality, and even less aggression than the male norms. However, aggression was unusually extreme when it occurred, and its content was linked to previous battles rather than camp life. POW's had less good fortune or misfortune in their dreams along with frequent bland dreams about the tedium of the camp. Their dream characters included higher percentages of males, family members, and the dead; they had fewer friends or animal characters than the male norms—perhaps simply reflecting who they were in contact with at the camp. Overall, these POW's patterns resembled other prison populations rather than other post-combatants, which may be because this particular group was captured early during WWII.