Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

When the Victim Forgets

Trauma-Induced Amnesia and Its Assessment in Holocaust Survivors

  • Chapter
Book cover International Handbook of Human Response to Trauma

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

Abstract

People who went through the horrors of the Holocaust struggle with their memories in different ways. Many experience overwhelming and intrusive recollections accompanied by strong emotions, even more so fifty years after the end of the war than earlier. Others have tried to silence their memories by attempts to keep the memories away or by dissociating themselves from the memories. Not much has been written about this other side of the coping process, that is, to what extent do survivors of the Holocaust succeed to distance themselves from their experiences. Forgetting in the form of repression, denial, and dissociation is a common phenomenon in the aftermath of other traumatic instances (Kleber & Brom, 1992), and amnesia has also been demonstrated after combat experiences (Karon & Widener, 1997; Van der Hart et al., 1999).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association (1994). DSM-IV. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auerhahn, N. C, & Laub, D. Intergenerational memory and the Holocaust. Submitted for publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bastiaans, J. (1987). Difficulties in psychotherapy of victims of man-made disasters. Acta Neurochirugica, 38, 114–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, E. M., & Putnam, F. W. (1986). Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 174, 727–735.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birenbaum, H. (1971). Hope is the last to die. New York: Twayne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brom, D., Cohen, M., & Dasberg, H. (1996, November). A controlled study on child-survivors of the Holocaust. Presented at the Annual Conference of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Montreal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D., Scheflin, A. W., & Hammond, D. C. (1998). Memory, trauma treatment, and the law. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D., Scheflin, A. W., & Whitfield, C. L. (1999). Recovered memories: The current weight of the evidence in science and in the courts. Journal of Psychiatry and Law, 27, 5–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butz, A. R. (1991). A short introduction to the study of Holocaust revisionism. Daily North Donald, May 13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, M., Brom, D., & Dasberg, H. (1997). Child-survivors of the Holocaust 50 years later. Presented at European Conference on Traumatic Stress, June, Maastricht.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Wind, E. (1968). The confrontation with death. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 302–305.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Durlacher, G. L. (1991). De zoektocht [The search]. Amsterdam: Meulenhoff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwork, D. (1991). Children with a star: Jewish youth in Nazi Europe. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enns, C. Z., McNeilly, C. L., Corkery, J. M., & Gilbert, M. S. (1995). The debate about delayed memories of child sexual abuse: A feminist perspective. The Counseling Psychologist, 23, 181–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hass, A. (1995). Survivor guilt in Holocaust survivors and their children. In J. Lemberger (Ed.), A global perspective on working with Holocaust survivors and the second generation. Jerusalem: Amcha/JDC Brookdale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaffe, R. (1968). Dissociative phenomena in former concentration camp inmates. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 310–312.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Janet, P. (1893). L’ Etat mental des hystériques: Les stigmates mentaux. Paris: Rueff & Cie. English edition: The mental state of hystericals. New York: Putnam. (Republished by University Publications of America, Washington, DC, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  • Janet, P. (1901). The mental state of hystericals: A study of mental stigmata and mental accidents. New York: Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karon, B. P., & Widener, A. J. (1997). Repressed memories and World War II: Lest we forget! Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 28(4), 338–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keilson, H. (1979). Sequentielle Traumatisierung bei Kindern. Stuttgart: Enke. English edition: Sequential traumatization in children. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press/The Hebrew University, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirmayer, L. J. (1996). Landscapes of memory: Trauma, narrative, and dissociation. In P. Antze & M. Lamber (Eds.), Tense past: Cultural essays and trauma and memory (pp. 173–198). New York/London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kleber, R. J., & Brom, D. (1992). Copingwith trauma: Theory, prevention and treatment. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kluft, R. P. (1997). The argument for the reality of delayed memory recall. In P. S. Appelbaum, L. A. Uyehara, & M. R. Elin (Eds.), Trauma and memory: Clinical and legal aspects (pp. 25–57). Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krystal, H., & Niederland, W. G. (1968). Clinical observations on the survivor syndrome. In H. Krystal (Ed.), Massive psychic trauma. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuch, K., & Cox, B. J. (1992). Symptoms of PTSD in 124 survivors of the Holocaust. American Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 337–340.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lagnado, L. M., & Dekel, S. C. (1991). Children of the flames: Dr. Josef Mengele and the untold story of the twins of Auschwitz. New York: Morrow.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, L. L. (1995). Admitting the Holocaust. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laub, D.,& Auerhahn, N. C. (1993). Knowing and not knowing massive trauma: Forms of traumatic memory. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 74, 287–302.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Laub, D., & Powell, D. Psychoanalytic listening to historical trauma: The conflict of knowing and the imperative to act. Submitted for publication.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levi, P. (1986). Moments of reprieve. New York: Summit Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levi, P. (1988). The drowned and the saved. London: Michael Joseph.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loewenstein, R.J. (1996). Dissociative amnesia and dissociative fugue. In L. K. Michelson & W.J. Ray (Eds.), Handbook of dissociation: Theoretical, empirical and clinical perspectives (pp. 307–336). New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loftus, E. (1993). The reality of repressed memories. American Psychologist, 48, 518–537.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, J. (1995). The hidden children: The secret survivors of the Holocaust. Toronto: Bantam Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmar, C. R., Weiss, D. S., Schlenger, W. E., Fairbank, J. A. Jordan, B. K., Kulka, R. A., & Hough, R. L. (1994). Peritraumatic dissociation and posttraumatic stress in male Vietnam theater veterans. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151(6), 902–907.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mazor, A., Gampel, Y, Enright, R. D., & Orenstein, R. (1990). Holocaust survivors: Coping with post-traumatic memories in childhood and 40 years later. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Modai, I. (1994). Forgetting childhood: A defense mechanism against psychosis in a Holocaust survivor. Clinical Gerontologist, 14(3), 67–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mooren, G. T. M., & Kleber, R. J. (1996). Gezondheid en herinneringen aan de oorlogsjaren van Indische jeugdige oorlogsgetroffenen: Een empirisch onderzoek. Utrecht: Utrecht University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musaph, H. (1973). Het post-concentratiekampsyndroom. Maandblad voor Geestelijke Volksgezondheid, 28, 207–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niederland, W. G. (1968). Clinical observations on the “survivor syndrome.” International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 313–315.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ofshe, R., & Watters, E. (1993, March/April). Making monsters. Society, 4–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parkin, A.J. (1997). Memory and amnesia: An introduction, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peltz, R. (1994). In the shadow of the empty core: Survival through bearing witness. Opening remarks, panel presentation at 14th Annual Spring Meeting of Division 39 of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC. (Quoted by Auerhahn & Laub, work in progress).

    Google Scholar 

  • Pope, K. S. (1996). Memory, abuse and science. Questioning claims about the false memory syndrome epidemic. American Psychobgist, 51(9), 957–974.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pope, H. G., & Hudson, J. I. (1995). Can memories of childhood sexual abuse be repressed? Psychological Medicine, 25, 121–126.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shalev, A. A. Y, Peri, T., Caneti, L., & Schreiber, S. (1996). Predictor of PTSD in injured trauma survivors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 53, 219–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simenauer, E. (1968). Late psychic sequelae of man-made disasters. International journal of Psychoanalysis, 49, 306–309.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Somer, E. (1994). Hypnotherapy and regulated uncovering in the treatment of older survivors of Nazi persecution. Clinical Gerontologist, 14(3), 47–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, A. (1994). Hidden children: Forgotten survivors of the Holocaust. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thygesen, P., Hermann, K., & Willanger, R. (1970). Concentration camp survivors in Denmark. Persecution, disease, disability, compensation. Danish Medical Bulletin, 17, 65–108.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van der Hart, O., Brown, P., & Graafland, M. (1999). Trauma-induced dissociative amnesia in World War I combat soldiers. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 31–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A., Van der Hart, O., & Marmar, C. (1996). Dissociation and information processing in posttraumatic stress disorder. In B. A. van der Kolk, A. C. McFarlane, & L. Weissaeth (Eds.), Traumatic stress (pp. 303–327). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Ravesteijn, L. (1976). Gelaagdheid van herinneringen [Layering of memories]. Tijdschriflvoor Psychotherapie, 5, 195–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagenaar, W. A., & Crombag, H. F. M. (1995). Verdrongen herinneringen [Repressed memories]. Nederlands Tijdschriflvoor Geneeskunde, 139, 1275–1279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, L. W. (1994). Recall of childhood trauma: A prospective study of women’s memories of child sexual abuse. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1167–1176.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yehuda, R., Elkin, A., Binder-Brynes, K., Kahana, B., Southwick, S. M., Schmeidler, J. & Giller, E. L. (1996). Dissociation in aging Holocaust survivors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 935–940.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yehuda, R., Schmeidler, J., Siever, L. J., Binder-Brynes, K, & Elkin, A. (1997). Individual differences in posttraumatic stress disorder symptom profiles in Holocaust survivors in concentration camps or in hiding. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 10, 453–463.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Onno van der Hart

  2. Cato-Polm Institute, Zeist, The Netherlands

    Onno van der Hart

  3. AMCHA, The National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Survivors of the Holocaust and the Second Generation, Jerusalem, 93385, Israel

    Danny Brom

Authors
  1. Onno van der Hart
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Danny Brom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel

    Arieh Y. Shalev

  2. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA

    Rachel Yehuda

  3. Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woodville, South Australia, Australia

    Alexander C. McFarlane

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

van der Hart, O., Brom, D. (2000). When the Victim Forgets. In: Shalev, A.Y., Yehuda, R., McFarlane, A.C. (eds) International Handbook of Human Response to Trauma. Springer Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4177-6_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4177-6_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6873-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4177-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation