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Other Scholarly Resources > 24
Publications concerning traumatic amnesia in Holocaust survivors
Child survivors of the Holocaust: Psychological adaptations
to survival Moskovitz, S., & Krell, R. (1990). Israel
Journal of Psychiatry and Related Services, 27 (2), 81-91.
"Whatever the memories, much is repressed as too fearful for
recall, or suppressed by well-meaning caretakers wishing the
child to forget. Without confronting the fear and recapturing
the fragments of memory, the survivor cannot make the necessary
connections which allow reintegration of their whole life;
neither can they obtain the peace of mind that comes with
closure." (p. 89).
Child survivors of the Holocaust: Strategies of adaptation
Krell, R. (1993). Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 384-389
"The most pervasive preoccupation of child survivors is the
continuing struggle with memory, whether there is too much
or too little...For a child survivor today, an even more vexing
problem is the intrusion of fragments of memory — most are
emotionally powerful and painful but make no sense. They seem
to become more frequent with time and are triggered by thousands
of subtle or not so subtle events...As children they were
encouraged not to tell, but to lead normal lives and forget
the past...Some are able to protect themselves by splitting
time into past, present , and future...The interviewer can
assist in sequencing fragments of memory, sometimes even filling
in gaps with historical information and other data. Fragments
of memory which made no sense had often been experienced as
'crazy' and never shared with anyone...To achieve relief for
symptomatic child survivors, the knowledgeable therapist elicits
memories, assists in their integration, makes sense of the
sequence and encourages the child survivor to write their
story, publish it, tape, or teach it."
Children of the flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the untold
story of the twins of Auschwitz. Lagnado, LM, & Dekel,
SC (1991). New York: William and Morrow & Co.
"A few of the twins insisted that they had no memories of
Auschwitz whatsoever. Instead, they dwelt on the sadness of
their postwar adult lives — their emotional upheavals,
physical breakdowns, and longings for the dead parents they
had hardly known." (p. 8).
Clinical observations on the survivors syndrome. In H.
Krystal (Ed) Krystal, H., & Neiderland, WG (1968).
Massive Psychic Trauma, 327-384. New York: International Universities
Press.
Discusses problems of hypermnesia and amnesia.
Clinical observations on the "survivor syndrome" Niederland,
WG. (1968). International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 313-315.
Discusses memory disturbances such as amnesia and hypermnesia.
The confrontation with death DeWind, E. (1968). International
Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 302-305
Most former inmates of Nazi concentration camps could not
remember anything of the first days of imprisonment because
perception of reality was so overwhelming that it would lead
to a mental chaos which implies a certain death.
De zoektocht [The search] Durlacher, GL (1991). Amsterdam:
Meulenhoff
Dutch sociologist, a survivor of Birkenau, describes his search
for and meetings with another 20 child survivors from this
camp. "Misha...looks helplessly at me and admits hesitantly
that the period in the camps is wiped out from his brain...With
each question regarding the period between December 12, 1942
till May 7, 1945, he admits while feeling embarrassed that
he cannot remember anything." Jindra...had to admit that he
remembers almost nothing from his years in the camps..."From
the winter months of 1944 until just before the liberation
in April 1945, only two words stayed with him: Dora and Nordhausen...In
a flash I understand his amnesia, and shocked, I hold my tongue.
Dora was the hell which almost nobody surivived, was it not?
Underground, without fresh air or daylight, Hitler's secret
weapon of destruction, the V-2 rocket, was made by prisoners.
Only the dying or the dead came above the ground, and Kapos,
and guards." (P.129).
Dissociation in aging Holocaust survivors Yehuda,
R., Elkin, et al. (July, 1996). American Journal of Psychiatry,
153, (7), 935-940.
Dissociative phenomena in former concentration camp inmates
Jaffe, R. (1968). International Journal of Psycho-analysis,
49, 310-312
Case descriptions include amnesia for traumatic events and
subsequent twilight states in which events would be relived
without conscious awareness. "I should like to add that the
dissociative phenomena described here turn out not to be rare,
once one is on the look out for them." (p. 312.)
Failed empathy — A central theme in the survivor's
Holocaust experience Laub, D., & Auerhahn, N. (1989).Psychoanalytic
Psychology, 6(4), 377-400
Holocaust survivors remember their experiences through a prism
of fragmentation and usually recount them only in fragments...A
curious blend often exists between almost polar experiences:
Remembering minute details in their fullest color and subtlest
tones, while being unable to place those details in their
narrative context or specific situational reference.
Forgetting childhood: A defense mechanism against psychosis
in a Holocaust survivor. In T. L. Brink, (Ed.) Modai,
I. (1994). Holocaust survivors' mental health. New York: Haworth
Press. Also published in: (1994) Clinical Gerontologist, 14(3),
67-71.
In a debate about uncovering painful memories of the Holocaust,
Modai's case is of a 58 year old woman who is unable to remember
her childhood.
Gelaagdheid van herinneringen [Layering of memories]
van Ravesteijn, L. (1976). Tijdschrift boor Psychotherapie,
5 (1)
"A smell, a sound, an image evoke fragments of images or emotions,
more compelling than current reality, fragments to which all
experience pain, anger, fear, shame, and powerlessness have
attached themselves. Must a coherent account be given, then
it is often painfully apparent that this is impossible. Most
often, the person is unable to present an overview of this
period." (p. 195).
Het post-concentratiekampsyndroom [The post-concentration
camp syndrome] Musaph, H. (1993). Maandblad Geestelijke
volksgezondheid [Dutch Journal of Mental Health], 28 (5),
207-217.
Amnesia exists for certain Holocaust experiences, while other
experiences are extremely well remembered.
Hidden children: Forgotten survivors of the Holocaust
Stein, A. (1994). Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books
Collection of interviews with child survivors who were hidden
during the war. Ervin Staub: "Over the years I have been trying
to re-experience those feelings, but they kept eluding me.
I was cut off from most of my memories, and from relieving
the anxiety of that time." (P. 106). I remember nothing about
the time I spent with those people...Not a face, not a voice,
not a piece of furniture. As if the time I spent there had
been a time out of my life. (P. 107)...What is missing? Why
can't I conjure up those memories? I am staring into the darkness
with occasional flashes of light allowing me to unearth bits
and pieces of life."
The hidden children: The secret survivors of the Holocaust
Marks, J. (1995). Toronto: Bantam Books
Ava Landy describes her amnesia: "So much of my childhood
between the ages of four and nine is blank...It's almost as
if my life was smashed into little pieces...The trouble is,
when I try to remember, I come up with so little. This ability
to forget was probably my way of surviving emotionally as
a child. Even now, whenever anything unpleasant happens to
me, I have a mental garbage can in which I can put all the
bad stuff and forget it...I'm still afraid of being hungry...I
never leave my house without some food...Again, I don't remember
being hungry. I asked my sister and she said that we were
hungry. So I must have been! I just don't remember." (P. 188).
Holocaust survivors: Coping with posttraumatic memories
in childhood and 40 years later Mazor, A., Ganpel, Y.,
Enright, RD, & Ornstein, R. (Jan., 1990). Journal of Traumatic
Stress, 3 (1), 11-14
Holocaust survivor studies in the context of PTSD
Krystal, H. (1994). PTSD Research Quarterly, 5 (4)
"Some authors also point to disturbances of memory: amnesia,
hyperamnesias and disturbances of consciousness, which in
retrospect we later recognized as trances."
Human adaptation to extreme stress: From the Holocaust
to Vietnam Wilson, J., Harel, Z, & Kahana, B. (1988).
New York: Plenum Press.
Hypnotherapy and regulated uncovering in the treatment
of older survivors of Nazi persecution Somer, E. (1994).
Clinical Gerontologist, 14(3), 47-65.
Discusses hypnotherapeutic titration techniques to assist
Holocaust survivors to uncover previously repressed memory
of concentration camp experiences.
Individual differences in posttraumatic stress disorder
symptom profiles in Holocaust survivors in concentration camps
or in hiding Yehuda, R., Schniedler, J, Siever, LJ, Binder-Brynes,
K, & Elkin, A. (1997). Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10,
453-465.46% of 100 survivors report amnesia on PTSD measures.
Knowing and not knowing massive psychic trauma: Forms
of traumatic memory Laub, D. & Auerhahn, N (1993).
American Journal of Psychoanalysis, 74, 287-302.
"The knowledge of trauma is fiercely defended against, for
it can be a momentous, threatening, cognitive and affective
task, involving an unjaundiced appraisal of events and our
own injuries, failures, conflicts, and losses...To protect
ourselves from affect we must, at times, avoid knowledge...Situations
of horror destroy the detached sensibility necessary for articulation,
analysis, elaboration...Knowing...requires a capacity for
metaphor which cannot withstand atrocity...Notwithstanding
the difficulties around and the struggle against knowing,
the reality of traumatic events is so compelling that knowledge
prevails, despite its absence to consciousness and its incompleteness...The
different forms of remembering trauma range from not knowing,
fugue states, fragments, transference phenomena, overpowering
narratives, life themes, witnessed narratives, metaphors...These
vary in degree of encapsulation versus integration of the
experience and in degree of ownership of the memory, i.e.,
the degree to which an experiencing 'I' is present as subject...Erecting
barriers against knowing is often the first response to such
trauma. Women in Nazi concentration camps dealt with difficult
interrogation by the Gestapo by derealization, by asserting
'I did not go through it. Somebody else went through the experience.'
A case study example is included of a man in therapy who wanted
to capture an elusive memory. The only remaining trace was
a sense of dread on hearing the phone click. Over time, he
recollected a traumatic war time experience as a child involving
the death of a doctor whom he had loved, and for which he
felt partly responsible. Having recovered the memory he had
lost, its intrusive fragments no longer blocked him from pursuing
his life. Many of his somatic symptoms receded at the time...Unintegrable
memories endure as a split-off part, a cleavage in the ego...When
the balance is such that the ego cannot deal with the experience,
fragmentation occurs...Simply put, therapy with those impacted
by trauma involves, in part, the reinstatement of the relationship
between event, memory and personality.
The memory of concentration camp survivors Wagenaar,
WA, & Groenweg, J. (1990). Applied Cognitive Psychology,
4, 77-87.
The study is concerned with whether extremely emotional experiences
leave traces in memory that cannot be extinguished. Testimonies
of 78 survivors are taken from 1943-1947 and for a second
time during a Nazi war criminal trial (Defendant - Marins
de Rijke, Camp Erika, Netherlands) from 1984-1987. The witnesses
agreed about the basic facts. Three of 38 survivors tortured
by De Rijke had forgotten his name on the second interview;
one had known his name quite well in the original interview.
The fact that the memories of the more brutal events were
not more resistant against forgetting remains highly informative,
even if the forgetting is aggravated by age effects. The forgotten
elements are not only the unique details of events, but also
some aspects to which the witnesses were exposed repeatedly.
The effects of forgetting reported above cannot easily be
situated in the stage of encoding. The forgotten elements
were in many cases reported in the early testimonies. Results
show camp experiences were generally well-remembered although
specific but essential details were forgotten, including being
maltreated, names and appearances of torturers, and being
a witness to murder. Intensity of experience is NOT a sufficient
safeguard against forgetting.
Sequential traumatization in children Keilson, H.
(1979/1992). Jerusalem: The Magnes Press/Hebrew University
Amnesia in Jewish Dutch child survivors for the traumatic
separation from their parents.
Symptoms of PTSD in 124 survivors of the Holocaust
Kuch, K., & Cox, B.J. (1992). American Journal of Psychiatry,
149, 337-340.
Potential subjects with confirmed or suspected organicity,
bipolar or obsessive complusive disorder were excluded. One
group (N=78) had been detained in various concentration camps
for greater than 1 month. A second group (N=20) had been detained
in Auschwitz and had been tatooed. A third group (N=45) had
not been in labor camps, ghettos, or had hidden in the illegal
underground. Psychogenic amnesia was found in 3.2% of the
totals sample, in 3.8 of the general concentration camp survivors,
and in 10% of tattoed survivors of Auschwitz. 17.7% (N=22)
of the total sample had received psychotherapy. The tattoed
survivors had a higher number of PTSD symptoms overall.
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This list was compiled by:
Kathy Steele, RN,
MN, CS
2801 Buford Highway
Suite 400
Atlanta, GA 30329
Tel. 404-321-4954 x5
Fax 404-321-1928
Last Updated
September 18, 1997
Project Director
Professor Ross E. Cheit
Taubman Center for Public Policy & American Institutions
at Brown University
67 George Street
Box 1977
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2201
Fax: 401-863-2452
 
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