Second-generation Holocaust survivors: Psychological, theological, and moral challenges

Abstract

Drawing from trauma theory, psychodynamic conceptualization, developmental psychology, clinical data, and personal experience, this article portrays a life haunted by tragedy predating its victims. Healthy child development is outlined, with particular attention to socialization and theological perspectives. Key characteristics of trauma are delineated, highlighting the nuances of trauma that are most harmful. As is the case with general trauma, Holocaust survivors are described as evincing survivor's guilt and paranoia in response to their experiences. Divergent disorders resulting from the Holocaust are described for 1st-generation and 2nd-generation survivors, respectively. Primary trauma responses and pervasive attitudes of survivors are shown to have harmful ramifications on their children's personality and worldview as well as on their interpersonal and theistic object relations. These limitations translate into problems in the adult lives of second generation survivors.

Echoes of transgenerational trauma in the lived experiences of Jewish Australian grandchildren of Holocaust survivors

“…The present study is one of a limited number examining third‐generation descendants of Holocaust survivors, and certainly the first of its kind in Australia. The themes presented here share some similarities with those of other third‐generation studies in so far as the diagnostic symptomology of trauma‐related disorders do again appear here in this research as they have been spoken about by Juni () and Yaroslawitz et al (). However the mechanisms of such transferability as decidedly different in the present research presumably due to the Holocaust not being represented in Australia as part of the country's fabric and therefore these participants have elected to be active in researching, learning, and cultivating the histories of their grandparents and the Holocaust more generally.…”

“…The findings in this research suggest that a ‘third‐generation profile’ may be a similar approach through which to characterise some of the experiences of survivors’ grandchildren. Importantly, though, whereas much of the past literature has focused on how parenting styles and modes of communication within survivor families can impact descendants’ wellbeing (Juni, ; Scharf & Mayseless, ), in the present research parenting did not emerge as a predominant pathway through which trauma was transmitted to the third‐generation descendants. Contrary to findings in studies that have focused on second‐generation children of survivors (Wiseman & Barber, ), the participants’ engagement with the Holocaust was not significantly mediated by patterns of parental, or grandparental, communication; instead, their engagement with their grandparents’ Holocaust stories was mostly self‐initiated, marked by personal research, judicious reflection and trips to Holocaust sites.…”

“…Research has shown that the trauma of the Holocaust has affected the psychological wellbeing of survivors, with the term ‘survivor syndrome’ used to define a set of psychopathological features that have been observed to characterize many members of this population (Niederland, ). These symptoms include chronic depression and anxiety, guilt, fear of renewed persecution, sleep disturbances and nightmares, anhedonia, hypochondria, emotional disruption, cognitive disturbances, and personality problems (Juni, ; Yaroslawitz, DeGrace, Sloop, Arnold, & Hamilton, ), with a selected few studies also suggestive of more positive expressions of trauma, specifically, resilience and adaptive abilities (Barel, van Ijzendoorn, Sagi‐Schwartz, & Bakermans‐Kranenburg, ). For this reason in this study, we take up Wiseman and Barber's () notion of trauma ‘echoes’, in recognition of the diverse ways that trauma exposure can be evidenced across time and place.…”

Transgenerational Transmission of Trauma: Psychiatric Evaluation of Offspring of Former “Comfort Women,” Survivors of the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery during World War II

“…Second, the participants showed a defiant and accusatory stance towards the world. Survivors who lived their lives with anger and resentment are expected to inculcate pronounced paranoia and negative worldview in their children [14]. Third, the participants seemed to have internalized the values of self-recrimination through their guilt-ridden mothers.…”

A trial of a school-based cognitive behaviour program for anxiety on 4th Generation Immigrants

“…As an inter-generation transfer, selected trauma causes the future generations to feel that people who made their ancestors suffer are "others". In addition to the experience of trauma and mourning by the new generation, images are also transferred to the new generation which become a part of the identity of that new generation (Juni, 2016).…”