The Silent Power: The Psychology of Women in Totalitarian Regimes

What happens to the human soul when freedom disappears? And does the psyche of women in totalitarian systems change differently than that of men? This book focuses on a question that has been little researched to date: the psychology of women in dictatorships-between conformity and fear, guilt and loyalty, compassion and resistance. It shows how women in authoritarian regimes are not only objects of power, but also bearers of the invisible: inner strategies, silent forms of survival, the secret preservation of humanity. Based on depth psychological, feminist, and social psychological theories, the author unfolds a multi-layered panorama of female experience in times of bondage. She examines how fear is used to discipline and guilt to bind, how relationships and empathy become both a trap and a resource-and how memory, language, and compassion become the basis for a new beginning after the collapse of dictatorial systems. This book is not purely a history book, nor is it purely a psychological study. It is a careful, intellectually dense, and at the same time deeply human exploration of the inner landscapes of totalitarianism-those spaces where conformity meant survival and memory became the first step toward freedom. A book about fear and dignity. About silence and voice. And about the quiet but unshakeable power of compassion. Bremen University Press has published over 5,000 specialist books in various languages since 2005.