Archives

By Myra Giberovitch The core experiences of psychological trauma are disempowerment and disconnection from others. J.L. Herman (1992) VICTIMIZATION Long-term victimization under a systematic and comprehensive … Read more

By David Boas The following article was published on May 2, 2019 in the Jerusalem Post. Courtesy of Jerusalem Post.  Pictured above: The Boas family house in … Read more

Barbara Joyce Bedney, Ph.D., M.S.W., Leah Bergen Miller, B.A, and Shelley Rood Wernick, M.B.A. The Jewish Federations of North America Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care … Read more

Carly M. Bruski, LMSW, Assistant Director, Holocaust Survivor Support Program “Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” – James Beard The Holocaust Survivor Support Program … Read more

Alyssa Reiner, MSW, LSW, RYT200 More than seventy years after the Holocaust, the complete impact of pervasive trauma on Survivors continues to be under investigation. An … Read more

By Mariya Keselman, MA, ATR-BC, LPC “At root, a pearl is a ‘disturbance,’ a beauty caused by something that isn’t supposed to be there, about which … Read more

By Betyna Bock Dedication to My Father – Karel Bock “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a Heaven of Hell. A Hell … Read more

By Renee Symonds BA Dip. Ed., MA Psych.   An unconventional father, I had, A confirmed Communist too And here in Australia  A Socialist would do A lover … Read more

By Maggie Leone, Boston University, College of Communication 2021 Preface The memories return in flashes.  None of the events are contiguous or chronological.  I know what … Read more

By Dr. Eva Fogelman, Ph.D. If you are a Holocaust survivor with a grandchild and you seek to fulfill the awesome responsibility of perpetuating the memory … Read more

By Betyna Bock My Mother Tongue My mother tongue lies dormant,shipwrecked in dark childhood memorieslike a water damaged diaryof a past traveller. Once I spoke this language well,a … Read more

By Renee Symonds My uncle is musing, “I remember the day she was born. I didn’t want to go to school. I was 7 years old. … Read more

By Irit Felsen, Ph.D. and Elizabeth Edelstein This paper describes the Educators program at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in … Read more

By Sara Zenlea, LCSW This article focuses on the interactions and feelings experienced between elementary level students and Holocaust survivors in school settings. Background             Adults … Read more

By Philipp Sonntag On 13 April 2001, the Association of Child Survivors in Germany (Child Survivors Deutschland, CSD) was established, nearly fifty-five years after the end … Read more

By Betyna Bock Nora at the Fruit Shop In Theresienstadt you worked in the vegetable garden and stole fruit and vegetables. You defied death by disregarding the … Read more

By Michael Andrew Eisinger, M.A., and Barbara Joyce Bedney, Ph.D., M.S.W. The Jewish Federations of North America Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care December 29, 2017 … Read more

By Tatiana Kastner, MSW, RSW “Art is a powerful tool of communication,” as C.A. Malchiodi says in her Handbook of Art Therapy (2003, p. 3). Its … Read more

By Renée Symonds Sir Moses Montefiore Jewish Home (Board Member) Co-ordinator Holocaust Awareness Program The Sydney Jewish Museum (Consultant Psychologist) How does one transmit the history of the … Read more

By Emily Kaplan Through the musical offerings at our monthly Café Europa social luncheon events, our Holocaust Survivor Support team quickly realized that music holds a … Read more

By Deb Kram I’m sitting in yet another airport terminal, waiting to board my flight after presenting to and meeting with local survivors of the Holocaust. … Read more

By Irit Felsen, Ph.D. Abstract- This paper suggests that elderly trauma survivors are at elevated risk for re-traumatization in medical and long-term care settings. Findings from recent … Read more

After viewing a film about how the faith of Holocaust survivors kept them strong during the Shoah, I noticed very little spotlight shone on those survivors whose faith, in contrast, was shattered or conflicted.

Healing does not always mean curing. Healing a wounded soul and helping guide it through the challenges of terminal illness is a significant expression of caring. It is the implementation of Jewish values in the lives of real people at a time when they are most vulnerable. This is Jewish Hospice.

Viewing Son of Saul provided my mother and I with a unique, personalized confrontation with intimate moment-to-moment exposure to traumatic scenes on the screen, allowing us to witness the actors’ facial expressions, prosody and body gestures.

Snoezelen is a form of multi-sensory stimulation (MSS) that is used both to calm down Patients with Dementia (PwD) who are agitated, as well as to stimulate those that are disengaged from their surroundings

Author: Dr. Eva Fogelman, Ph.D, Child Development Research The psychological dynamics of aging survivors of the Holocaust are worthy of inquiry because, indeed, their old age … Read more

By Robert Krell M.D.    July 27, 2016 I am a child Holocaust survivor and must, therefore, begin with my own origins, including my struggle to develop … Read more

By Lois Griff Lillian was born in a small town in Germany on August 8, 1923.  She describes her youth as wealthy and privileged.  She had … Read more

By Charles Silow, PhD On April 8, 2013 at the Berman Center for the Performing Arts in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a group of six Holocaust survivors … Read more

Clinical, Policy, and Programmatic Implications written by: Yael Danieli Group Project for Holocaust Survivors and their Children, NY, USA Fran H. Norris Geisel School of Medicine … Read more

by Chavie Brumer, LCSW-R “But my mother won’t go and I don’t know what else to do,” says the caregiver in the back row, clearly at … Read more

A book review by Dr. George Halasz There is a famous Chasidic saying, “In the end is the beginning,” which I had in mind as I read … Read more

By Irit Felsen, Ph.D. Part I Abstract This paper describes encounters with Jewish survivors of the Holocaust who were diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent decades in … Read more

by Adeena Horowitz, LMSW Administrative Director, Nazi Victim Services Program, Selfhelp Community Services, Inc. Witness Theater was conceived and initiated by Irit and Ezra Dagan, and … Read more

An Information and Practice Guide for Working with Holocaust Survivors by Myra Giberovitch Judith Hassan OBE Special Advisor Therapeutic Services for Survivors and Refugees of War Trauma … Read more

by Maureen DeLorenzo Case Manager, Holocaust Survivor’s Assistance Program Alpert Jewish Family & Children’s Service, West Palm Beach, Florida March 1, 2014 Nine months ago, I … Read more

A Book Review by Susan H. Sachs  MELABEV  –   מלב”ב מרכז לטיפול בקשיש בקהילה Jerusalem, Israel  Melabev was the very first organization in Jerusalem to provide … Read more

by Aviva Lion Introduction In March 2003, I arrived on the doorstep of Yoram Amit, director of Amcha in Rehovot. In a very unimposing office, here … Read more

By Halina Rosenkranz, M.S. Holocaust Program—Group Facilitator Westchester Jewish Community Services 141 N. Central Avenue Hartsdale, New York “We’re supposed to feel sorry for the children of … Read more

By Renee Symonds BA Dip. Ed., MA Psych. and Rony Bognar Abstract This paper discusses the creation and development of the Survivor Focus Group at the … Read more

Presentation  Limmud Oz Sunday 24 November 2013 By Dr. George Halasz  www.halasz.com.au With the rapid changes in our understanding of the ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ … Read more

Exploring Holocaust Survivors’ Successful Coping and Adaption By Michelle Fishman “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” ―Friedrich Nietzsche On May 8, 1945, Germany faced … Read more

By Dr. Robert Krell Adult survivors of the Holocaust, age 17 years or older at the time of liberation, experience postwar life differently from those who … Read more

by Naomi Shacham, MSW “And I was hungry For food And for love I was hungry To feel what it is like to belong to someone … Read more

By Eli Somer*1 and Moshe Nizri1 Many researchers assume that the continuing influences of the Holocaust on its survivors are long-term, and hypothesize that its stamp … Read more

When providing services to Holocaust survivors, it is important that we are particularly mindful of our words and actions, especially because we may be the last generation of caregivers and clinicians who have the honor, as well as the moral obligation, of delivering compassionate health services to survivors. Caring for Holocaust survivors at end of life is rewarding when it leads to a peaceful passage at the end of the natural life span of our patients, an experience denied to those who were murdered during the horrific years of the Nazi regime.

We at Remember the Women Institute have been seeking for years to place the issue of sexual violence against Jewish women (and men) during the Holocaust in the narrative of Holocaust history. We believe that we have made some inroads, especially with our recent symposium in cooperation with USC Shoah Foundation.

Goodnight, Irene… Welcome Home! Transforming Relational Trauma in a Residential Setting   By George Halasz, Magalí Kaplan, Rod Myer “And so I learnt that the poet is … Read more

End-of-Life Issues for Holocaust Survivors A presentation given in October 2008 at an international conference in Frankfurt for professionals working with Holocaust survivors. By Judith Hassan, … Read more

In Their Own Words: Survivor Wartime and Late Life Coping Styles By Nancy Isserman, Bea Hollander-Goldfein and S. Nechama Horwitz The coping literature is quite extensive with … Read more

Aging of Child Holocaust Survivors By Yoram Barak, MD, MHA Introduction Numerous studies focus on the influence of Holocaust experiences on child survivors more than 60 years … Read more

The Resiliency of the Survivor: Views of a Child Holocaust Survivor/Psychiatrist A presentation given at the Pike Conference on “The Holocaust and Its Legacy: Resiliency, Fragility … Read more

Assessing Trauma, Abuse and Loss via Guided Imagery and Music by Amy Clements-Cortés, Ph.D., MusM, MTA, Mt-BC, FAMI Abstract Holocaust survivors often face many psychological and … Read more

Music Therapy To Sever the Silence of a Childhood Holocaust Survivor By Amy Clements-Cortes Ph.D, MusM, MTA   Introducing Manya Manya was a 72-year-old female widow, … Read more

Theory Through the Eyes of Child Survivors of the Holocaust By Svetlana Shklarov MD, Ph.D, RSW Somehow, we children who were meant to die, have lived. … Read more

Eight Variations on a Theme By Natan PF Kellermann Ph.D  [DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are strictly the personal views of the … Read more

Identity and Resilience After Long Silence By Svetlana Shklarov MD, Ph.D, RSW Russian Jews have learned to overcome their fear, know how to make their silence … Read more

Towards the Integration of Mental Health Services and Social Programs for Holocaust Survivors in New York City By Gary J. Kennedy MD Alessandra Scalmati MD, Ph.D … Read more

Aging Child Holocaust Survivors of Sexual Abuse By Carla Lessing LCSW Presented at the Selfhelp Conference in New York on March 29, 2011. The goal of … Read more

Practical Experience from the Jewish Community of Zagreb by Ana Hermanovic, MSW This article presents strategic and programmatic approaches to serving a diverse survivor community where the common thread is the past experience of personal trauma under the Ustasha and Nazi regime in wartime Croatia. The author emphasizes the fact that assistance is critical for a vulnerable population of “aging citizens in a country where age is identified as one of the highest risk factors in leading to social exclusion and poverty.”

by Shmuel Reis MD, MHPE As a physician on a house call, Dr. Reis took a moment to listen to the recollections of a patient of who was a survivor. Drawn to her story, he set up regular meetings to learn more. Their visits together inspired the survivor to document her memories and share details of her life never before revealed. The therapeutic nature of their shared activity led her son to report, “These last ten years have been her best.”

by Dr. Radek Samuel Roule During its nearly 100-year history, Hagibor, a Jewish communal center in Prague, has had disparate uses since its initial founding in 1911, reverting once again to being a place of caring for elderly Jewish community members. Current programs serve to improve the quality of life for Nazi victims.

by Simonne Beckeld Hirschhorn Club Nissim celebrates the miracles of survival for program participants while it provides essential services for those who embrace life well into their later years.

by Paula David, MSW, PhD This paper discusses the evolution of understanding of survivors in the aftermath of the Holocaust. In the author’s words: Since the literature on Holocaust survivors is confined to the period post 1945, there is a finite amount of material. The literature discussed in this article was accessed online through the Ovid, Scholars Portal and Proquest Research Library databases, while older articles and books not sourced online or out of print were hand sourced and acquired from the collections of various Toronto Jewish institutions and the personal collections of Holocaust scholars in Israel, the United States and Canada.

A Partnership Model to Reduce Isolation and Enhance the Well-Being of Survivors in Palm Beach County’s Gated Communities by Jenni Frumer, LCSW Associate Executive Director and Eva Weiss, MEd Coordinator, Holocaust Program Unique challenges face survivors in Palm Beach County’s gated communities. The ‘resort lifestyle’ leads to social isolation as well as limited intergenerational interaction. With Cafe Europa as a successful model, AJFCS looked to provide additional regular opportunities for survivors to socialize. Partnering with area agencies and surveying participants in order to make suitable changes over the past year, AJFCS has created Eat and Shmooze, and has developed a model which has met with success.