The Holocaust as a Context for Telling Life Stories

Abstract

Using a narrative approach, this study explores the role of the Holocaust in the life stories of Survivors, contrasted with two comparison groups (one Jewish and one non-Jewish) whose direct experiences did not include surviving the Holocaust. Using the technique of the life line and measures such as number and type of life events identified, as well as the events marking the beginning and ending of the life story, several differences were found between the three groups. Survivors identified an average of 10 life events, fewer than the non-Jewish comparison group (18) but more than the Jewish comparison group (7). Most of these events were positive, although less so for the Jewish comparison group, with very few future events identified by any of the groups. The War marked the beginning of the life story for most of the survivors and their stories ended at an earlier age than did the stories of the comparison groups. Further, WWII events predominated in the stories of the survivors, as did family births and relationship events (comparably seen in the stories of the Jewish comparisons). In contrast, the comparison groups, and particularly the non-Jewish group, identified greater numbers of career, education, illness, and family death events. It is proposed that the pronounced effect of the Holocaust in the life stories of survivors (and to a lesser, though still evident, degree of the Jewish comparisons) serves as an anchoring and contextual influence on the nature and quality of life stories told. That is, the Holocaust sets the standard for what events merit mention and further determines the nature of the events reported and their distribution.

Can the past keep life pleasant even for old-old trauma survivors?

“…Regarding our findings on the Holocaust survivors, they coincide with those of other studies indicating that survivors differ from other old people mainly in their negative autobiographical memories, while they largely succeed to preserve their positive recollections isolated from the lingering effects of the trauma (de Vries et al, 2005;Shmotkin et al, 2006). The encapsulation of the emotional impact of the trauma from other periods in life was found beneficial for the present well-being of the survivors (Cohen & Shmotkin, 2007).…”

“…This balance of resilience and vulnerability is reflected in, as well as derived from, positive and negative features in the survivors' life narratives (Cohen & Shmotkin, 2007;Shmotkin & Shrira, in press). Thus, the autobiographical past is intricately related to the survivors' satisfaction: Whereas survivors extract happiness from their positive periods much like comparison groups, they experience greater distress from their negative periods compared to other old people (de Vries, Suedfeld, Krell, Blando, & Southard, 2005;Shmotkin et al, 2006).…”

Salutogenesis and autobiographical disclosure among Holocaust survivors

“…It appears that the survivors in this study are coping as successfully with their life experiences, including the aging process, as their peers. This is consistent with three recent studies, all showing that aging, rather than being the ''gateway to psychopathology'' (Lomranz, 2005, p. 257) it was expected to be, is just one more challenge with which survivors are successfully coping (deVries et al, 2005;Schiff, 2005;Suedfeld et al, 2005b).…”

“…Recalling their life, survivors mention twice as many positive significant life events as negative ones (deVries et al, 2005); they also look back with satisfaction on their life as a whole (Suedfeld, 2002). Such findings contradict the stereotype of survivors as guilt-ridden, depressed, and withdrawn (Helmreich, 1992;Suedfeld, 2000).…”

The relationship timeline: A method for the study of shared lived experiences in relational contexts

“…More recent research has returned to the life course context within which life events are experienced, suggesting that the consequences of life events may be strongly influenced by their timing, perceived relevance, and subjective experience (XX XXXXX, Blando, Southard & Bubeck, 2001; Jang & Haley, 2002). Associated with this is a move away from event recognition and their scalar assessments to more narrative descriptions of events in the context of an individual’s life (XX XXXXX, Suedfeld, Krell, Blando & Southard, 2005; XX XXXXX, & Watt, 1996)—an integration of an event-based perspective with the personal life course narrative (XX XXXXX, 2013) providing an “insider’s” perspective on the individual life course.…”