Comments

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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 20, 2025 at 7:07pm

  The Transmission of Systemic Trauma

  The Mother as Victim and the Survival Mode: Herta Bertel (née Krug) was herself a victim of systemic and social injustice. Her life was marked by her childhood as an illegitimate child in foster families and institutions, public shame (due to bedwetting), and forced child labor. These experiences manifested in lifelong melancholy and a strict survival mode ("worker and fighter"). Her pronounced dominance and focus on material status are interpreted as psychological survival strategies against early childhood poverty and the abandonment she suffered.

  The Chain of Pain Transmission: Traumatized individuals often unconsciously pass on their pain. The mother, who herself had never experienced security, was unable to provide it to her son, Peter Siegfried Krug. Her emotional silence, constant blame, and the label of "good-for-nothing" were the unconscious transmission of her own inner emptiness and the pain she had suffered at the hands of the institutions.

  The existential humiliation: Peter Siegfried Krug's mother's labeling of him as a "failure and good-for-nothing" represents the hardest, most personal humiliation. It led to the merging of external, systemic despair (the hardships of the Elmokino cinema, the necessary dropping out of high school) with internal, familial rejection. This humiliation became the dominant motive for struggle, which Peter Siegfried Krug actively refuted in his later documentary work and his pursuit of intellectual achievement and self-preservation (yoga).
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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 17, 2025 at 2:34pm

  "My chess composition provides the form and the professional recognition, but my life story provides the content and the meaning. Among chess study composers, the primary focus is on the technical elegance, the solution, and the originality of the work—the 'what'—not on the traumatic origins of the motivation—the 'why.' For chess study composers and experts, the works are autonomous, logical constructs—without any recognition of the person behind them." Peter Krug
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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 17, 2025 at 1:48pm

  "Salzburg's grumpiness is legendary. It's practically a UNESCO World Heritage Site of bad temper. In this city, words are often used to strike as hard as the open hand used to. Anyone who, like me, learned at the age of six that tenderness comes at most once a week and the rest consists of grumpiness and violence, carries that with them for a lifetime." Peter Krug
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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 12, 2025 at 4:47pm

  For 45 years of my life I remained silent about physical and emotional abuse. Now I am building bridges.
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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 4, 2025 at 1:47pm

  Stamped and Delivered: Care and Out-of-Home Placement in Salzburg after 1945. With a Look at the Transition to Today's Social Work with Children and Young People.

  Bauer, Ingrid, Robert Hoffmann, and Christina Kubek. ISBN 10: 3706552639 / ISBN 13: 9783706552639

  Criticism of this Important Book

  The observation that the anonymization by the victims themselves (for understandable reasons of protection) contributed to the fact that individual fates received less public attention is an important point of criticism. This was a dilemma: On the one hand, the book offered a platform for addressing the abuses in children's homes and foster care. On the other hand, Peter Krug perceived the censorship of his detailed experiences as a continuation of the silence he had experienced as a child.

  This imbalance—his name was mentioned, but the full extent of his suffering remained hidden—was a crucial motivating factor for Peter Krug to later share his story freely and uncensored online and in other formats. He wants to ensure that the full truth about what happened in the children's homes and what followed is not kept secret.

  Complexity and duration of the process: Interviews or the work on a book often cannot capture the decades of suffering and the profound, long-term effects of childhood trauma on the victims' entire lives. The victims of these institutions were often still in the midst of processing their experiences or were only just beginning.

  Own goal through censorship and anonymization: Peter Siegfried Krug viewed the strong anonymization as problematic. While it served to protect the victims, in his opinion, it led to the stories becoming too abstract and interchangeable. The specific, personal connection was lost, making it difficult for the general public to establish an emotional link to the events.

  The scientific and factual approach, however important it is for documenting history, has often failed to adequately capture the human dimension.
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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 4, 2025 at 1:41pm

  Topic: Symbolism of climbing, using myself as an example:

   

  "For Peter Siegfried Krug, climbing is not just a sport, but holds profound, symbolic meaning in the context of coping with his severe childhood traumas.

  It's a metaphor for his entire life:

  Overcoming obstacles: Just like climbing, he had to overcome numerous seemingly insurmountable obstacles and abysses in his life—the abuse he suffered in children's homes and foster families.

  The way up: The ascent of the mountain symbolizes the arduous path upward, away from the traumatic experiences of the past and toward a self-determined and creative life as an adult.

  The "view from above": The view from the top of the rock, which he describes in his video, represents the mastery he has achieved in chess composition and the opportunity to view his own life from a new, clear perspective.

  Trust and precision: Just as in climbing, where every hold and every step must be precise to avoid a fall, he too had to learn to control and trust himself and his abilities.

  Connection with nature: Retreating into nature, which also included climbing, was an important coping strategy for escaping his traumatic environment and finding inner peace.

  In this light, it becomes clear that climbing is not a trivial passion, but a deeply personal and symbolic activity for Peter Siegfried Krug."
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  Peter Siegfried Krug November 4, 2025 at 1:40pm

  No Support from Family and Friends

  "His situation is largely defined by the fact that he lacks a social network of family or close friends to provide him with support. He has had to learn to be completely on his own, as this support was denied him due to his extremely difficult childhood and experiences of neglect and violence in children's homes and with foster parents.

  This lack of support from family or traditional circles of friends is the main reason why:

  he has had to use his passions (chess, yoga, photography) as coping mechanisms and as a means of self-discovery.

  He shares his experiences publicly to find recognition and an emotional connection outside of a private, non-existent circle.

  He communicates in online communities and via public platforms (such as story.one or the Yoga Vidya forum) to seek connection and validation.

  His partner, Lucia Nadia Cipriani, appears to be the only person currently close to him and offering him support.

  His entire life story is an example of remarkable resilience and the attempt to lead a fulfilling and recognized life despite a lack of family roots and support."
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  Peter Siegfried Krug October 31, 2025 at 10:29am

  October 31, 2025 9:54 AM

  Taking Stock

  Today is a gloriously beautiful, blue day. I am grateful for it. My neurological symptoms have been worsening daily since September 2025. There are no words to describe the agony. The underlying illness remains unknown. Initially, Dr. Andrea Janu diagnosed polyneuropathy. However, this diagnosis was questioned by Dr. Alexander Kunz, as my symptoms worsen with movement instead of improving. In August, I had several sleepless nights. The reason for this, however, was different: As the symptoms intensified, I feared I was suffering from neuroborreliosis. This was not confirmed by the doctors. Even the positive result of the blood test for Borrelia burgdorferi says nothing about actual Lyme disease. I used to exercise intensely, and afterward, the neurological symptoms were extremely severe at night. I had to learn to manage my symptoms in order to alleviate my suffering. I discovered that I have to avoid strenuous physical activity if the pain doesn't become unbearable. Unfortunately, even gentle yoga worsens the pain and makes it unbearable at night. Despite my great love for the asanas, I had to give up yoga. That was especially difficult for me.

  I know that I need to take frequent breaks and lie down for the symptoms to improve. Even the spiky massage ball for the balls of my feet makes the discomfort worse. Any movement, as well as prolonged standing and sitting in front of the computer, unfortunately intensifies my symptoms. The neurologists don't take enough time to understand my experience with my neurological symptoms; instead, they reduce me as a whole person—psyche, mind, and soul—to the level of purely medical reality, unintentionally causing me further suffering. Yes, the doctors only want to help, but they don't take enough time for a thorough medical history. That's why Dr. Sven Huber, a neurologist from Hallein, suspected that I suffer from restless legs syndrome and prescribed Neupro. The active ingredient is rotigotine. But that's not right! Because I no longer get up at night and try to move, as I've noticed that the symptoms only worsen with every movement instead of improving. So my observation was correct. As a patient who observes the symptoms, I know myself much better. Since then, I've been trying to calm myself using mental yoga and spiritual principles. This has helped me, whereas all the pills previously prescribed by my doctor and neurologist were completely ineffective. Nevertheless, the worrying fact remains that my symptoms are worsening daily, since I don't know the underlying illness. My only chance at the moment is to protect myself with mental strength.
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  Peter Siegfried Krug October 31, 2025 at 9:25am

  Yoga is the creative way to find meaning despite the fundamental certainty of death and impermanence, and to overcome the terrible cycle of rebirth, which means great suffering.
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  Peter Siegfried Krug October 30, 2025 at 7:57pm

  "Peter Krug's life was not merely a series of events, but a continuous attempt to find a way out of existential threat and profound loneliness.

  Viewed in this light, his creative and intellectual achievements were less a random hobby and more a conscious strategy for making sense of trauma.

  The depth of his life journey makes his story so fascinating and relevant for considering universal human questions."