A review of the psychological literature dealing with the emotional state of
Holocaust survivors' offspring (HSO) has yielded conflicting evidence. Whereas
clinicians describe HSO as emotionally scarred, and tend to generalise their
findings to the population of HSO at large, controlled studies do not lend support
to these generalisations, and do not demonstrate widespread psychopathology among
HSO. However, the relative frequency of psychological problems among HSO has not
been systematically investigated. Nor has the possible existence of a latent
vulnerability been investigated. In the present study, the frequency of emotional
problems among Holocaust survivors' offspring and their psychodiagnostic patterns
were investigated. Holocaust survivors' off spring, aged 5-16 years, did not
demonstrate more emotional, behavioural or learning problems than did controls.
Moreover, HSO of fathers with low levels of education were referred to a
psychoeducational service significantly less frequently than were comparable
controls. On psychodiagnostic tests HSO did not show more signs of emotional
vulnerability than did controls. Generally, HSO were indistinguishable from controls
on all measures, demonstrating good adaptation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Axelrod, S.
,
Schnipper, O.L.
, &
Rau, J.H.
(1980).
Hospitalized offspring of Holocaust Survivors
. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic,
44(1),
1-44
.
2.
Barocas, H.A.
(1971).
A note on the children of concentration camp survivors
. Psychotherapy, 8,
189-190
.
3.
Barocas, H.A.
, &
Barocas, C.B.
(1973).
Manifestations of concentration camp effects on the second generation
. American Journal of Psychiatry, 130,
820-821
.
4.
Barocas, H.A.
, &
Barocas, C.B.
(1979).
Wounds of the fathers: The next generation of Holocaust victims
. International Review of Psycho-Analysis, 6,
331-340
.
5.
Bergmann, M.S.
(1983).
Therapeutic issues in the treatment of Holocaust survivors and their children
. American Journal of Social Psychiatry, 3,
21-23
.
6.
Bergmann, M.S.
, &
Jucovy, M.E.
(Eds.) (1982). Generations of the Holocaust.
New York: Basic Books
.
7.
Blumenthal, N.N. (1981). Factors contributing to varying levels of adjustment
among children of Holocaust survivors (Doctoral dissertation, Adelphi University).
Dissertation Abstracts International, 42/04, 1596.
8.
Boldo, B. (1983). Second generation of Holocaust survivors.
Unpublished master's thesis. Haifa University, Israel [In Hebrew].
9.
Breznitz, S.
, &
Eshel, Y.
(1983). Life events: Stressful ordeal or valuable
experiences? In
S. Breznitz
(Ed.), Stress in Israel (pp. 228-261).
New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
.
10.
Carmil, D.
(1989, October).
The multifaced consequences of the Holocaust among survivors and descendants
. Paper presented at the International Symposium at the Medical
School, Hannover, Germany.
11.
Culbertson, F.M.
, &
Revel, A.C.
(1987). Graphic characteristics on the Draw-A-Person Test
for identification of physical abuse. Art Therapy, 78-83.
12.
Danieli, Y.
(1981).
The group project for Holocaust survivors and their children
. Children Today, 10,
11-13
.
13.
Davidson, S.
(1979). Long-term psychological sequelae in Holocaust
survivors and their families. In Israel-Netherlands Symposium on
the Impact of Persecution (pp. 62-67).
The Netherlands: Rijswijk
.
14.
Davidson, S.
(1980a).
The clinical effects of massive psychic trauma in families of Holocaust survivors
. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy,
6(1),
11-21
.
15.
Davidson, S.
(1980b).
Transgenerational transmission in the families of Holocaust survivors
. International Journal of Family Psychiatry, 1,
95-112
.
16.
Epstein, H.
(1979). Children of the Holocaust: Conversations with sons
and daughters of survivors.
New York: Putman
.
17.
Fabry, J.J.
, &
Bertinetti, J.F.
(1990).
A construct validation study of the Human Figure Drawing Test
. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 70,
465-466
.
18.
Feuer, M.
(1990).
A comparative analysis of intelligence and drawing test performances in
children aged 6-10 years
. Magyar-Pszichologiai-Szemle, 46,
155-171
[English abstract].
19.
Fogelman, E.
, &
Savran, B.
(1979).
Therapeutic groups for children of Holocaust survivors
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 29,
211-235
.
20.
Fogelman, E.
, &
Savran, B.
(1980).
Brief group therapy with offspring of Holocaust survivors
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,
50(1),
96-108
.
21.
Freyberg, J.T.
(1980).
Difficulties in separation-individuation as experienced by off spring of
Nazi Holocaust survivors
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 50,
87-95
.
22.
Furman, E.
(1973). The impact of the Nazi concentration camps on the
children of survivors. In
E.J. Anthony
&
C. Koupernik
(Eds.), The child in his family: The impact of disease and death
(pp. 379-384).
New York: Wiley
.
23.
Garmezy, N.
(1987).
Stress, competence and development: Continuities in the study of
schizophrenic adults, children vulnerable to psychopathology, and the search
for stress-resistant children
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57,
159-174
.
24.
Gay, M.
(1972). Children of ex-concentration camp
inmates. In
L. Miller
(Ed.), Mental health in rapid social change (pp.
337-338).
Jerusalem: Academic Press
.
25.
Goodman, J.S. (1979). The transmission of parental trauma: Second generation
effects of Nazi concentration camp survival [Doctoral dissertation, California
School of Professional Psychology]. Dissertation Abstracts International,
39/08, 4031.
26.
Kav-Venaki, S.
, &
Nadler, A.
(1981, June).
Trans-generational effects of massive psychic traumatization: Psychological
characteristics of children of Holocaust survivors in Israel
. Paper presented at the Fourth Annual Scientific Meeting of the
International Society of Political Psychology. Mannheim, Germany.
27.
Koppitz, E.M.
(1968). Psychological evaluation of children's human figure
drawings.
New York: Grune & Stratton
.
28.
Kur, H.R. (1985). Children of Holocaust survivors: Some of the
psychological sequelae. Unpublished master's thesis. Johannesburg.
29.
Last, U.
, &
Klein, H.
(1984a).
Impact of parental Holocaust traumatization on offspring's reports of
parental child-rearing practices
. Journal of Youth and Adolescents, 13,
267-283
.
30.
Last, U.
, &
Klein, H.
(1984b). Holocaust traumatization. The transgressional
impact. In The Nazi concentration camp (pp.
589-601).
Jerusalem: Yad-Vashem
.
31.
Leon, G.R.
,
Butcher, J.N.
,
Kleinman, M.
,
Goldberg, A.
, &
Almagor, M.
(1981).
Survivors of the Holocaust and their children: Current status and adjustment
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
41(3),
503-515
.
32.
Levine, H.
(1982).
Toward a psychoanalytic understanding of children of survivors of the Holocaust
. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 51(1),
70-92
.
33.
Luthar, S.S.
, &
Zigler, E.
(1991).
Vulnerability and competence: A review of research on resilience in childhood
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61,
6-22
.
34.
Masten, A.S.
et al. (1988).
Competence and stress in school children: The moderating effects of
individual and family qualities
. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied
Disciplines, 29,
745-764
.
35.
Meichenbaum, D.
, &
Novac, R.
(1978). Stress inoculation: A preventive
approach. In
C. Spielberger
&
I. Sarason
(Eds.), Stress and anxiety, Vol. 5.
Washington, DC: Hemisphere
.
36.
Mittelberg, D.
(1988).
Impact of the Holocaust on second generation survivors. The differential
socialization of affirmative commitment to the collective
. Presented at the "Remembering for the Future"
Conference, Oxford.
37.
Moskovitz, S.
(1982). Love despite hate. Child survivors of the holocaust
and their adult lives.
New York: Schocken
.
38.
Musaph, H.
(1981).
The second generation of war victims: Psychopathological problems
. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences,
18(1),
3-14
.
39.
Newman, L.
(1979). Emotional disturbance in children of Holocaust
survivors. Social Casework, 43-50.
40.
Phillips, R.E.
(1978).
Impact of Nazi Holocaust on children of survivors
. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 32,
370-378
.
41.
Podietz, L.
et al. (1984).
Engagement in families of Holocaust survivors
. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 10,
43-51
.
42.
Rakoff, V.
,
Sigal, J.J.
, &
Epstein, N.B.
(1966).
Children and families of concentration camp survivors
. Canada's Mental Health, 14,
24-26
.
43.
Rieck, M.
(1991). Die Nachkommen der Holocaust-Uberlebenden. Ein
Literaturtiberblick [Holocaust survivors' offspring. A literature
survey]. In
H. Stoffels
, (Ed.), Schicksale der Verfolgten. Psychische und Somatische
Auswirkungen von Terrorherrschaft (pp. 129-147).
Berlin: Springer
.
44.
Rieck, M.
,
Carmil, D.
, &
Breznitz, S.
(1993). The effects of war on civilians: The mixed albeit
biased effects of stress. In
L. Weisaeth
(Ed.), The individual meeting with trauma.
Oslo University Press
.
45.
Rieck, M.
, &
Eitinger, L.
(1983, July-August).
Psychological investigations of Holocaust survivors' offspring
. Paper presented at the 7th biennial meeting of the International
Society for Study of Behavioral Development. Munich, Germany.
46.
Russell, A.
(1974).
Late psychological consequences in concentration camp survivors' families
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 44,
611-619
.
47.
Russell, A.
(1980). Late effects-influence on the children of the
concentration camp survivors. In
J.E. Dimsdale
(Ed.), Survivors, victims and perpetrators (pp.
175-203).
New York: Hemisphere
.
48.
Russell, A.
,
Plotkin, D.
, &
Heapy, N.
(1985).
Adaptive abilities in non-clinical second generation Holocaust survivors
and controls
. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 34,
564-579
.
49.
Rustin, S.L.
, &
Lipsig, F.S.
(1972).
Psychotherapy with the adolescent children of concentration camp survivors
. Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy,
4(2),
87-94
.
50.
Seifer, R.
, &
Sameroff, A.J.
(1987). Multiple determinants of risk and
invulnerability. In
E.J. Anthony
&
B.J. Cohler
(Eds.), The invulnerable child (pp. 51-69).
New York: Guilford Press
.
51.
Sigal, J.J.
(1971). Second generation effects of massive psychic
trauma. In
H. Krystal
&
W. Niederland
(Eds.), Psychic traumatization (pp. 55-65).
Boston: International Psychiatric Clinics
.
52.
Sigal, J.J.
(1973). Hypotheses and methodology in the study of
families of the Holocaust survivors. In
E.J. Anthony
&
C. Koupernik
(Eds.), The child in his family: The impact of disease and death
(pp. 411-415).
New York: Wiley
.
53.
Sigal, J.J.
(1989, October).
Type I and type 2 errors in the study of intergenerational effects of
massive trauma
. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for
Traumatic Studies, San Francisco.
54.
Sigal, J.J.
,
Dinicola, V.F.
, &
Bounvino, M.
(1988).
Grandchildren of survivors: Can negative effects of prolonged exposure to
excessive stress be observed two generations later?Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 33,
207-212
.
55.
Sigal, J.J.
,
Silver, D.
,
Rakoff, V.
, &
Ellin, B.
(1973).
Some second generation effects of survival of the Nazi persecution
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 43,
320-327
.
56.
Solomon Z.
,
Kotler, M.
, &
Mikulincer, M.
(1988).
Combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder among second generation
Holocaust survivors: Preliminary findings
. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145(7),
865-868
.
57.
Sonnenberg, S.M.
(1974).
Children of survivors. Workshop report
. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association,
22,
200-203
.
58.
Vegh, C.
(1979). Je ne lui ai pas dit au revoir [I did not get
to say goodbye].
Paris: Gallimard
.
59.
Wardi, D.
(1990). Memorial candles [In Hebrew].
Jerusalem: Keter
.
60.
Wechsler, D.
(1973). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Young
Children [Hebrew version, 1979].
Jerusalem: The Hebrew University
.
61.
Wechsler, D.
(1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for
Children-Revised [Hebrew version, 1976].
Jerusalem: The Hebrew University
.
62.
Weis, E.
,
O'Connell, AN.
, &
Sitter, R.
(1986).
Comparison of second-generation Holocaust survivors, immigrants, and
nonimmigrants on measures of mental health
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50,
828-831
.
63.
Werner, E.E.
(1989).
High-risk children in young adulthood: A longitudinal study from birth
. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59,
72-81
.
64.
Werner, E.E.
, &
Smith, R.S.
(1982). Vulnerable but invincible.
New York: McGraw Hill
.
65.
Wisniewski, J.J.
, &
Naglieri, J.A.
(1989).
Validity of the draw a person: A quantitative scoring system with the WISC-R
. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 7,
346-351
.
66.
Zajonc, R.B.
, &
Markus, B.
(1975).
Birth order and intellectual development
. Psychological Review, 82,
74-88
.
67.
Zlotogorski, Z.
(1983).
Offspring of concentration camp survivors: The relationship of perception
of family cohesion and adaptability to levels of ego functioning
. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 24(4),
345-354
.
68.
Zlotogorski, Z.
(1985).
Offspring of concentration camp survivors: A study of level of ego functioning
. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Disciplines,
22(3),
201-209
.
