Freud_Burlingham_1943_War_and_Children_k_text

of being held, and probably add to it in herown mind the imaginary picture of her ownmother. Whenever she looked at the face ofthe person who held her she began to cry.There are other children who are sparedthese violent reactions. They seem placid,dazed, and more or less indifferent. It takesa few days or even a week before this placidityis disturbed by a realisation of the fact thatthey are among strangers; all sorts of slighterdepressive reactions and problems of behaviourwill then result. All children of this age, thosewith the violent reactions as well as thosewhere reaction is delayed, will show a tendencyto fall ill under the new conditions; they willdevelop colds, sore throats, or slight intestinaltroubles.That the shock of parting at this stage isreally serious is further proven by the observationthat a number of these children fail torecognise their mothers when they are visitedafter they have "settled down" in their new surroundings.The mothers themselves realise thatthis lack of recognition is not due to any limitationsof the faculty of memory as such. Thesame child who looks at its mother's face withstony indifference as if she were a completestranger, will have no difficulty in recognisinglifeless objects which have belonged to itspast.When taken home again it will recognise the53