Abstract
The widespread processes of avoidance and denial manifested in relation to the Holocaust are a reflection on the one hand of humanity’s desperate struggle to survive physically in the face of the overwhelming threat of death and on the other of the attempt to ward off knowledge of inconceivable catastrophe that threatens its psychological survival. The subject is thus one of adaptation to death and disaster in our culture. It seems that the danger to life can be faced and attempts made to master and overcome it only up to a certain level of intensity.
What happened—really happened
What happened—really happened
What happened—really happened
I believe with perfect faith
That I’ll have the strength to believe that
What happened—really happened.
Not everything that is faced be changed: but
nothing can be changed until it is faced.
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© 1989 Plenum Press, New York
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Davidson, S. (1989). Avoidance and Denial in the Life Cycle of Holocaust Survivors. In: Edelstein, E.L., Nathanson, D.L., Stone, A.M. (eds) Denial. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0737-2_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0737-2_22
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