Issue 9: Spring 2019 Authors

Betyna Bock

Poetry Collections: Spring 2020; Spring 2019; Spring 2018

Betyna Bock was born in Prague in 1946 after War War II. She emigrated to Sydney in 1948 with her parents, who were Holocaust survivors. Betyna began to write poetry and prose when she was 12 years old. She attended the Conservatorium High School of Music and then the University of Sydney, where she studied psychology and music. Later on, she also took up singing.

After graduating from university, Betyna went on to practice as a psychologist/psychotherapist. She now works in private practice under her married name Bettina Ebert. Over the past fifteen years Betyna has sung Yiddish and Hebrew with her daughter Nogah. Her son Benjamin has followed in his mother’s footsteps to become a psychologist. Betyna’s current poetry is about her experiences as the only daughter of her Holocaust survivor parents.

Elizabeth Edelstein

Article: Holocaust Survivors as Participant Educators: Giving Space to Lived Experience of Social Trauma in Collective Memory

Elizabeth Edelstein is the Vice President for Education at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. At the Museum, Ms. Edelstein and her colleagues develop programs about 20th and 21st century Jewish history and the Holocaust for students, teachers, and adult visitors.

Irit Felsen, Ph.D.

Articles: Holocaust Survivors as Participant Educators: Giving Space to Lived Experience of Social Trauma in Collective Memory ;  Encounters with Chronic Psychiatric Holocaust Survivors: Trauma, Psychosis and Functionality

Irit Felsen, PhD is a clinical psychologist specializing in trauma and traumatic loss, with a special focus on Holocaust survivors and their families. Dr. Felsen received her Ph.D from the University of Hamburg, Germany and completed her post-doctoral training at Yale University. She is an Adjunct Professor at Yeshiva University in NY, and is in private practice in Mountain Lakes, NJ, and in Englewood, NJ. She also serves on a national emergency response team for the delivery of services following critical incidents. Dr. Felsen is a researcher with the Yale University Trauma Study Group, and her research on the effects of trauma and intergenerational transmission of trauma was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, the Journal of Psychotherapy Research, the Journal of Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, the journal of Psychoanalytic Psychology, and in book chapters in the “International Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma” and the recently published book “Psychoanalysis and Holocaust Testimonies: Unwanted Memories”. Dr. Felsen served as the Clinical Coordinator of services for Holocaust survivors at the Jewish Family Services of Metrowest in NJ and as a NJ State Emergency Psychiatric Services Screener. She is the daughter of Holocaust survivor parents.

Eva Fogelman

Articles: Telling Your Children about the Holocaust ; PSYCHOLOGICAL DYNAMICS IN AGING SURVIVORS OF THE HOLOCAUST

Eva Fogelman, PhD is a psychologist in private practice in New York City.  She is co-director of Child Development Research.  Dr. Fogelman was the co-founder and co-director of Psychotherapy With Generations of the Holocaust and Related Traumas and founding director of Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers (ne Foundation for the Righteous). She is the author of the Pulitzer Prize nominee Conscience and Courage:  Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust and author and co-producer of the award-winning documentary, Breaking the Silence:  The Generation After the Holocaust.

Philipp Sonntag

Article: German Child Survivors in Action

Dr. rer. nat. Philipp Sonntag is a board member and treasurer of the German Child Survivors. As a physicist, he has written several books regarding technology assessments, and atomic warfare, including the human factor, information in society, and innovations, such as the Bionic Saw. For publications see:

http://www.philipp-sonntag.de/bibliographie.html

For more information of the association of “Child Survivors Germany”:

http://www.child-survivors-deutschland.de/

Renee Symonds

Article: Max, An Unconventional Father; The Long Goodbye

Renee has run a successful private practice in Sydney for many years. During that time, she combined her personal knowledge (as the only child of Holocaust survivors) with her professional experience to create a Holocaust Awareness Program at the Sir Moses Montefiore Jewish Home. The program was used to train all staff there to ensure that they were aware of issues relevant to many of the residents. Renee is also a board member of the home.

When the Survivor Focus Group was initiated at the Sydney Jewish Museum in 2006, Renee’s expertise with Holocaust Survivors was seen as an essential element and she was asked to be a co-founder. She has been co-facilitator since that time.

Sara Zenlea

Article: L’Dor Vador: Holocaust Survivor Story Sharing Project

Sara Zenlea is a Holocaust Case Manager at Alpert Jewish Family Service. In addition to addressing her clients’ individual needs, Ms. Zenlea focuses on executing intergenerational community programs for Holocaust survivors in Palm Beach County, and has worked with educational programs for caregivers to bridge gaps in understanding of the Holocaust

Ms. Zenlea has worked with Holocaust survivors for more than 10 years. Prior to her work with survivors, she did case management for underserved older adults in Chicago.  Ms. Zenlea also served as a care consultant with the Alzheimer’s Association. 

Ms. Zenlea holds an M.S.W. from Florida Atlantic University with certification in Geriatric Social Work.  She is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and a qualified Supervisor with the State of Florida.