Naked truth Chapter 16 The Echoes of Injustice: Witnessing Trauma and the Unseen Scars of History
Exploring the Lingering Impact of Cruelty, Complicity, and the Human Capacity for Empathy
It’s a cold November day in her part of the world, and Martha has had a rough day—one of those days when life feels like a drag: meaningless and a never-ending struggle. Suddenly, she hears the chilling whistling of the Double Headed Viper (read Chapter 1 to meet him) echoing in her mind, and for a split second, she finds herself back in that toxic environment that still gives her the creeps. It’s one of those days when the past crashes down on her like a pile of bricks, kicking her square in the face.
In that moment, the wise, sharp face of Miss Foxxy appears in her vision, promising more stories from the battlefield.
What very few people understand is how such split seconds can leave you gasping for air. Trying to explain it to the usual Fred and Bertha offers no comfort whatsoever.
The renowned psychotherapist Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score wrote:
"Trauma results in a fundamental reorganization of the way the mind and brain manage perceptions. It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think. When people are triggered, they are pulled back into the intense, overwhelming emotions of the past, as if it's happening in the present."
Her training as a psychotherapist gives her insight into the what, how, and why of these experiences, but in the midst of the event, the sense of powerlessness can be overwhelming—until the spell finally breaks.
This is when she reaches for her phone and finds herself listening to YouTube channels featuring survivors of religious cults, trafficking, narcissistic abuse, and workplace bullying. Why? Because they understand. And because she understands them and their stories—without questioning, without ridicule, without thinking, “But hey, they must have brought it all on themselves.”, it is their well deserved karma, it is because they have a negative attitude and attract such events in their lives.
What Martha realized many years ago is that mind control and verbal abuse are the common threads, the binding gel—what ties it all together.
On an emotional level, the impact on people is strikingly similar: panic attacks, anxiety, PTSD, extreme fear, flash backs, expressed in countless ways—both physical and emotional.
The predators’ impact on these souls often lasts a lifetime. She has heard the saying, “Messed-up people mess up others.” How horrible is that? Yet, she doesn’t entirely buy into it. To her, it feels like a justification for horrific behaviour. Besides, she knows many people who have survived terrible experiences and are far from being monsters themselves.
“Bullying is never fun, it's a cruel and terrible thing to do to someone. If you are being bullied, it is not your fault. No one deserves to be bullied, ever. “
Raini Rodriguez
Most of the time, Martha finds that those who repeat phrases like “Messed-up people mess up others” have only read about extreme abuse or bullying— have never experienced it themselves, are actually reading too many self help books and lose a bit connection with the reality.
What has become clear to her is this: real people see real people. And this is what she has learned to cherish most in her life—authenticity. Real people.
When the soul is in pain people tend to embrace two extreme behaviours - one losing trust in humanity, the second constantly trusting that the next person one meets is the saviour, that everybody is good and kind and supportive. Both cases are extreme and induce only confusion, loss and more misery.
The truth is that ever since she was little, Martha trusted people with all her heart. With so much turmoil and instability at home, she looked to the outside world as a place where salvation could be found. Countless betrayals later, she kept trusting but realised that the cost is way too high.
Metaphorically speaking, her trust became like a wheel—each betrayal adding weight, making it heavier and harder to turn. Now, when past memories overwhelm her, the wheel of trust feels almost impossible to move, and trust is much harder to feel. She also knows what helps shift such heavy energy. It worked before. It will work again!
REACH FOR THE BRUSHES WHEN YOU ANXIETY KICKS IN
Days like this demand space—space to release the anger and pain, space to let it all out and reclaim a sliver of balance. She reached for the brushes, long forgotten and dry as the desert, their once joyful melodies now silenced. With a heavy heart, she began smearing random colors onto an old canvas. Who cares about the colors? Who cares about perfection or sales?
The brushes offered no solace. Frustrated, she tossed them into the sink. Her fingers found the greens and blues squeezed onto a scrap of paper. She dipped her hands into the colors, then slammed them against the canvas, chaos erupting in a flurry of emotion. Each movement was a scream, each smear a strike at the Viper’s face, each dot a metaphorical dagger aimed at the monster who had caused so much pain to so many.
Miss Foxxy knows the stories. She is the witness. Her sharp gaze meets Martha’s unspoken anguish, echoing the question that haunts her: When? When will the Double headed Viper pay for what he/they did?
At times, Martha feels as though she is still struggling to process everything she endured during those years although she knows healing is also happening. She has grown so accustomed to locking away memories, so used to enduring and feeling numb. The worst part is the sense of impotence—the complete lack of power, the humiliation she faced, the cowardice of the enablers, and the horrendous lack of humanity.
And … in spite of it all, she survived. She has many tales to tell, lessons to share, and people who suffer in silence to reach out to—perhaps to ease their pain.
Over the years, Martha read numerous books and articles on this particular topic, blending the perspectives of a psychotherapist, a curious human being, and someone who has been at the receiving end of abuse. What is obvious is that the entire behaviour follows a nearly scripted pattern, starting with the devaluation of the individual by the attacker.
In her practice, she has heard countless stories, seen the hollow gaze of despair, the words left unspoken, the trembling hands, and the frantic rhythm of panicked breaths. Her connection with each person is genuine, her empathy boundless.
ARE MONSTERS PAYING FOR THEIR ACTIONS? WW2 AND MENGELE
This is when her mind takes her back to the Second World War and her research into what happened to the Nazi monsters after the war. Recently, she re-listened to a program about Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous "Angel of Death," whose atrocities at Auschwitz have made him one of history's most notorious war criminals. Mengele not only killed people but appeared to take pleasure in the suffering he caused, often justifying his acts as scientific research.
Mengele’s experiments, particularly on twins, were infamous for their barbarity. He conducted procedures without anesthesia, including organ removal, injecting chemicals into children’s eyes to attempt to alter their color, and intentionally infecting one twin with diseases to observe how the other reacted. Twins who survived these experiments often died during dissection so he could compare their internal organs.
His victims included not just Jews but also Romani people, disabled individuals, and others deemed “undesirable” / also called “subhumans” by the Nazi regime. Mengele’s"research" extended to grotesque medical experiments emanated by a sick mind, such as testing the limits of human endurance, sterilisation techniques, and attempting to manipulate genetics in pursuit of the Nazi ideal of racial purity.
If you think he paid for his actions, you are seriously mistaken. After the war, Mengele escaped justice by fleeing to South America, where he made money, visited Europe, and even enjoyed a pleasant stay in Switzerland. He remarried, changed countries multiple times, and lived for decades under false identities, evading capture despite being one of the most wanted war criminals.
What one needs to consider is that for every monster, there is a whole community of enablers—people who see what is happening, witness the horror, and say nothing, but instead join in the terrible actions, becoming enforcers of behavior, protectors, and, most of the time, participants in the cruelty. Remaining silent is another form of participation. After the war, he reportedly claimed that he did nothing wrong, but merely followed orders. How many others made the same claim to cover for their wrongdoings, clearing their conscience with a simple excuse?
Extrapolating that story onto today's situations, how many times in the workplace, society at large or within families do people say the same thing when faced with unfair and cruel actions?How can people sleep at night after witnessing countless acts of cruelty, after seeing unfairness on such a massive scale over so many years?
When will justice come for the countless lives they destroyed? When—and how? If we look at Mengele’s case, the answer is clear: perhaps never. History offers a vast pool of knowledge, insights, and lessons, but sometimes it fails to deliver the justice that so many deserve.
Until next time, be well!
End of chapter 16
One of my dreams is to write a novel, inspired by real events but with a touch of fiction in it. Will it happen? I don’t know! Writing as and when I find the energy and time while navigating the choppy waters of life.
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Naked truth - part 5 The Carpathian mountains and travelling by train
"The Carpathians are the stone walls of this fortress that is our homeland. They are the backbone of Romanian soil, the link between heaven and earth, constantly reminding us of the age and strength of our people." - Cezar Petrescu
Karina,
I enjoy reading your novel-to-be. Will go back to the earlier chapters, too. The Mengele story is the most mind-boggling of all time. A sinister maniac killing masses of people and escaping justice.