Intergenerational Trauma

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Intergenerational transmission of trauma occurs “when an older person unconsciously externalizes his traumatized self onto a developing child’s personality” (Kellermann). While the trauma can be transmitted from the survivor to his or her spouse and caretakers, the intergenerational transmission of trauma emphasizes the survivor parent passing on his or her traumas specifically to the child. Usually, the transmission contains secondary post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Therefore, since most Holocaust survivors suffer from PTSD, their children will have a predisposition to PTSD. Aside from secondary PTSD, many of the problems faced by Holocaust survivors’ offspring revolve around four key issues. The first issue deals with the self.…show more content…
Many of the grandchildren testified that they were proud of the strength of their grandparents. When asked “when you think about the Holocaust and what your grandparents went through, what kind of thoughts come to mind?”. A grandchild of a Holocaust survivor explained he was amazed at how his grandmother still had a sense of humor even after experiencing all she experienced during the Holocaust (Kahane-Nissenbaum). This sense of pride seems to stem from the close bonds and family systems between the third generation survivors and their grandparents. The family systems changed greatly from the second generation to the third generation. The themes of silence that lead to unconscious projections of fears and anxieties by the survivors to the second generation changed to a theme of communication between the survivors and the third generation. The survivors were more willing to tell their grandchildren of their experiences than they were to tell their own children. Many survivors have explained this is because “by the time the grandchildren were old enough to understand, it was easier for the survivors to speak” (Katz). While their parents viewed their identities as the children of Holocaust survivors negatively, the third generation takes pride in knowing they are the grandchildren of survivors of the Holocaust. It is no longer a negative stigma. For many of these children, “the Holocaust is a central part of their identity” (Fogelman). However, the overall failure of Holocaust survivors to properly communicate details of their horrific suffering with their children did not prevent second-generation children from facing psychological issues related to these

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