By: Martin O. Heisler

Martin O. Heisler — Thu, 25 Dec 2014 20:08:13 +0000

Until invited, when I was about 60 years old, to write a short biography* relating my experience as a childhood survivor to my work as a social and behavioral scientist, I had not thought systematically about those aspects of my life — except, to some extent, the death of my mother in Bergen-Belsen shortly before I was seven. The difficult but I believe ultimately therapeutic experience of writing that piece led me to focus increasingly on the past, memory, and trauma in my research and writing.
I came across this piece while reading Dr. Barak’s research findings in connection with a current project. It speaks directly and very personally to me, in a fashion with which psychiatrists and psychologists are undoubtedly familiar: it feels good to know that I am not “crazy in a simple way.” Thank you!
Martin O. Heisler, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, USA.
* See Light from the Ashes: Social Science Careers of Young Holocaust Refugees and Survivors, ed. Peter Suedfeld. Ann Arbor, MI — University of Michigan Press, 2001.

Comments on: Aging Child Survivors

By: Martin O. Heisler