The Overwritten Identity: Social Ascent at the Price of Repression / Die überschriebene Identität: Sozialer Aufstieg zum Preis der Verdrängung.

This paper analyzes the life of Herta Brigitte Bertel through the lens of existential philosophy (Jean-Paul Sartre) and Taoism (Laozi). It explores the "overwritten identity"—a process where traumatic childhood experiences (as a "Verdingkind") are not integrated but replaced by a rigid bourgeois facade. The study investigates the resulting "emotional asymbolia" and its destructive impact on the next generation, specifically the institutionalization of the son. This documentation serves as a contribution to the understanding of transgenerational trauma and the systemic abuse in children's homes.