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Social Resources and the Mental Health of Aging Nazi Holocaust Survivors and Immigrants

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International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes

Part of the book series: The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping ((SSSO))

Abstract

A review of the literature dealing with the effects of the Nazi Holocaust documents a wide range of physical and psychic impairments suffered by survivors (Chodoff, 1966; ). There is a basic agreement among most of the writers that survivors have indeed suffered lasting physical, mental, psychological, and social impairments. As a result, many survivors are characterized as being severely handicapped in a variety of life situations (Chodoff, 1966; Eitinger, 1961; Krystal, 1968). Recent reports within the clinical psychiatric tradition continue to provide evidence of the scarring effects of the Holocaust on survivors (). The literature also suggests that following World War II, the survivors’ recovery was made more difficult because the families and communities, through which they might have found comfort and help, no longer existed (Davidson, 1979; Levav & Abramson, 1984).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work and Center on Applied Gerontological Research, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44115, USA

    Zev Harel

  2. Department of Psychology and Center on Applied Gerontological Research, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44115, USA

    Boaz Kahana

  3. Department of Sociology and Elderly Care Research Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106, USA

    Eva Kahana

Authors
  1. Zev Harel
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  2. Boaz Kahana
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  3. Eva Kahana
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    John P. Wilson

  2. University of Queensland, Herston, Australia

    Beverley Raphael

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© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Harel, Z., Kahana, B., Kahana, E. (1993). Social Resources and the Mental Health of Aging Nazi Holocaust Survivors and Immigrants. In: Wilson, J.P., Raphael, B. (eds) International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2820-3_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2820-3_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6219-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2820-3

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