By Betyna Bock
My Mother Tongue
My mother tongue lies dormant,
shipwrecked in dark childhood memories
like a water damaged diary
of a past traveller.
Once I spoke this language well,
a fluent pre-schooler,
tossing nouns and adjectives in the air
like a juggler.
Now with each word
stuck … Continue Reading ››
If you are a Holocaust survivor with a grandchild and you seek to fulfill the awesome responsibility of perpetuating the memory of The Six Million, you face a great conflict and challenge. You cannot only discuss the Holocaust in the abstract but, rather, you need to share the … Continue Reading ››
My uncle is musing, "I remember the day she was born. I didn't want to go to school. I was 7 years old. I remember my mother giving birth to her at home. I remember it like yesterday." My uncle is lost in reverie - a reverie that takes … Continue Reading ››
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 New York City. This program reflects the unique emphasis of the Museum on the lived experience of eyewitnesses to the events of the Holocaust … Continue Reading ››
This article focuses on the interactions and feelings experienced between elementary level students and Holocaust survivors in school settings.
Background
Adults who experience close intergenerational interaction are less prone to depression and have better physical health, as they feel more active … Continue Reading ››
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 rules
and hiding them in your lumber jacket
while the Czech police weren’t looking.
Now sixty years later
in your smart red blazer
and pleated floral skirt
you breeze past the sign
DO NOT TOUCH THE FRUIT.
You give the purple plums
a … Continue Reading ››
“Art is a powerful tool of communication,” as C.A. Malchiodi says in her Handbook of Art Therapy (2003, p. 3). Its therapeutic benefits for the person's emotional well being have been reported for diverse populations (Canadian Art Therapy Association, 2017). The multi-faceted approach of Expressive Therapies can be very appropriate … Continue Reading ››
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
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) (2014), “individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an … Continue Reading ››
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 Holocaust, of the traumatic life-long effects of the Holocaust on its survivors and its child survivors and also teach of the trans-generational transmission of that trauma on the descendants of the Holocaust?
In fact, how … Continue Reading ››
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 special place in survivors’ hearts. Looking around the room when a performer plays Broadway tunes or sings Jewish music in Hebrew or Yiddish, it is easy to see the … Continue Reading ››
