The study assessed for the presence of Holocaust-related trauma characteristics in ultra-Orthodox grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Measures included the Secondary Trauma Scale (STS; Motta, Hafeez, Sciancalepore, & Diaz, 2001), the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (EIS-R; Weiss & Marmar, 1997), the A-Trait Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983), and the Modified Stroop procedure. Participants included ultra-Orthodox grandchildren of two or more Holocaust survivors (n = 58), ultra-Orthodox grandchildren of non-Holocaust survivors (n = 51), and non-Jewish grandchildren of non-Holocaust survivors (n = 41). Results indicated that ultra-Orthodox participants, regardless of their grandparents’ Holocaust survivorship status, showed response latencies for color-naming Holocaust-related stimuli on the Modified Stroop procedure. The findings suggest that the transfer of Holocaust trauma is not generated by the experience of being a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, but rather from the experience of being a member of the ultra-Orthodox community.
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