Esther Lamms papper

The collection consists of two folders containing the psychiatrist Dr. Esther Lamm’s documentation of her work at the Sigtuna hospital for refugees and survivors, who were liberated from Nazi concentration camps and arrived in Sweden with the help of UNRRA and the Swedish Red Cross in 1945. Lamm’s service to the hospital is documented in a certification written in 1945 by the hospital director, attesting to Lamm’s commendable dedication and “motherly care” devoted to her patients. One of the folders consists of documents, while the other consists of photographs from Lamm’s time at the hospital, including a photograph of her with some of her patients. Some pictures document the arrival of the ship carrying some of the patients at Stockholm harbor and their arrival at the hospital in Sigtuna by ambulance. The documents include a register of the patients that Lamm treated during her service at the hospital, which includes the patients’ names, nationality, date of birth, age, and marital and familial status. All 43 patients were women, ranging in age from 15 to 47, with the median age being 20.5, with 16 being Polish citizens, 12 Hungarian, 8 Czech, 5 Romanian, 1 Austrian, and 1 Greek. The majority of the women (27) were unmarried.

Among the documents are Lamm’s notes of the interviews and mental health screenings that she made with her patients. The screenings consist of Rorschach inkblot tests that Lamm made with the women, with the patients’ replies and Lamm’s interpretations being documented in the collection. The interviews contain vivid and often detailed descriptions of the patients’ experiences of Nazi atrocities and the fate of their family members, documenting many steps of their ordeals before their final arrival in Sweden. As with the Rorschach inkblot tests, Lamm’s writings contain notes on the patients’ psychological and physical conditions throughout different steps of the ordeal. These include changes in their general emotional (e.g., anger, sadness, apathy) and physical (e.g., loss and regaining of appetite, changes in weight and body strength) states, changes in their desire to live (e.g., feeling suicidal or hopeful about the future), disposition towards the traumatic experience (e.g., desire and ability to forget) as well as resources for resilience and coping mechanisms (e.g., drawing strength from faith or from the desire to reunite with one’s family). The notes are handwritten, although the folder also contains printed transcripts of the notes made by Esther Lamm’s son, the filmmaker Staffan Lamm.