The impact of the holocaust on the second generation: Norwegian Jewish holocaust survivors and their children

Abstract

The entire population of Norwegian-born Jews who survived the German concentration camps and their children was examined, and compared to Norwegian-born Jews who escaped to Sweden, and their children. An attempt is made to look for the symptoms described as a "second generation syndrome" by several authors. The present findings do not support the presence of serious psychopathology among the children of Norwegian-born Jewish survivors as a group, but indicate a certain degree of psychological vulnerability among these children. A s adults, they are more often engaged in healthlsocial care professions and organizations and also show signs of greater assimilation to their non-Jewish surroundings than the comparison group.

Transgenerational effects of abusive violence on the children of Vietnam combat veterans

“…These phenomena have also been observed to be associated with increased intrafamilial violence, substance abuse, and extreme difficulty forming nurturant parental bonds (Haley, 1985). Although some empirical studies have lent support to clinical observations of a transgenerational impact of trauma (Danieli, 1988;Harkness, 1994;Last & Klein, 1981;Major, 1996;Nadler, Kav-Venaki, & Gleitman, 1985;Rosenheck & Fontana, in press;Solomon, Kotler, & Mikulincer, 1988) others have failed to document significant effects (Schwartz, Dohrenwend, & Levav, 1994), and no studies have examined the effect on the next generation of participation in abusive violence, specifically.…”

The impact of intergenerational transmission of trauma from the Holodomor Genocide of 1932-1933 in Ukraine

“…Major (1996) also found increased school-related behavioural problems in children of survivors and sub-clinical levels of depression and anxiety, while children and grandchildren (Rowland-Klein & Dunlop, 1997) of Holocaust survivors tended to have a general fear and mistrust of other people and expressed a sense of loss of family and roots. In addition, offspring were less likely to endorse a Jewish identity, altogether (Major, 1996). In general, survivors' children (Ganz, 2002;Major, 1996) and grandchildren (Ganz, 2002) were more likely to seek psychological or psychiatric treatment.…”

“…Therefore, the question arises as to whether the impacts of the 1932-1933 genocide of Ukrainians, known as the Holodomor, may be responsible or at least partly responsible for Ukrainians' behaviours/perceptions and underperformance in health outcomes. In this context, the Holodomor may continue to have substantial social and psychological effects on the offspring and families of Ukrainian survivors comparable to that documented on descendents of genocide survivors and other mass, collective trauma -in terms of negative views of self and ethnic identity (Major, 1996;Nagata, 1993), pervasive feelings of mistrust, fear (Major, 1996), shame (Nagata, 1993), and risky health behaviours (World Health Organization, 2008).…”

“…Major (1996) found that Norwegian children of the survivors evaluated their fathers as being more introverted and their childhood home life to be less harmonious. Major (1996) also found increased school-related behavioural problems in children of survivors and sub-clinical levels of depression and anxiety, while children and grandchildren (Rowland-Klein & Dunlop, 1997) of Holocaust survivors tended to have a general fear and mistrust of other people and expressed a sense of loss of family and roots. In addition, offspring were less likely to endorse a Jewish identity, altogether (Major, 1996).…”

“…In addition, offspring were less likely to endorse a Jewish identity, altogether (Major, 1996). In general, survivors' children (Ganz, 2002;Major, 1996) and grandchildren (Ganz, 2002) were more likely to seek psychological or psychiatric treatment. Third generation descendents of survivors also scored significantly higher in state and trait anger -and in state and trait irritability; they also perceived others to be more angry and irritable (Iliceto, Candilera, Funaro, Pompilo, & Kaplan, 2011). developed over five centuries of Turkish oppression that culminated in a genocide of Armenians by Turks in 1915 -where one to one and a half million Armenians perished (Kalayjian & Weisberg, 2002).…”