Living the Holocaust by the Survivors Essay - 2801 Words

Living the Holocaust by the Survivors World War II ended in Europe on May 7, 1945, but to many survivors of the Holocaust, the war would remain with them for the rest of their lives. Not only had it brutally stripped them of their families, but also of their own humanity. As the survivors came to realizations that their families would not return to them and the initial hardships of returning to a normative life wore off, the memories of the concentration camps and the shock of brutal separation from family came flooding back into their minds. These memories often caused radical change in mental behavior and, to a degree, somaticized themselves into the â€Å"survivor’s syndrome.† (Niederland 14) The symptoms seen in â€Å"survivor’s†¦show more content†¦In a sense, he demonstrates how â€Å"survivor’s syndrome† affects the survivor, Vladek, who is unable to shake the past in habit or thought, and a son of the survivor, Artie, who attempts to cope with his father’s r eality. In Psychopathology of Concentration Camp Survivors, Trautman discusses how the manifestations of the â€Å"survivor’s syndrome† are related to the â€Å"immediate effects and adaptive reactions the victims manifested in the original situation of acute stress and terror.† (124) One of these manifestations is anxiety, which manifests itself in the form of panic, distrust, social isolation, obsessive compulsion, and irritability in response to events that could be seen as â€Å"an imaginary reproduction of the persecution memories.† (126) Artie illustrates some of these irritabilities in an attempt to understand from what perspective Vladek has, as opposed to himself. Comparing to other survivors, he even notices that â€Å"lots of the people [at the resort] are survivors—like those Karps—if they’re whacked up it’s in a different way from Vladek.† (Maus II, 22) Before the war, it may have been possible that Vladek w as already having problems, such as when he noticed Anja’s pills. (Maus I, 19) In this manner, it is completely possible for obsessive-compulsive disorder to be amplified by catastrophe, but what series of events could cause this? What could cause Vladek to be concerned about countingShow MoreRelatedThe Horror Of The Holocaust859 Words   |  4 PagesThe Holocaust was perhaps the darkest event in the twentieth century. This genocide resulted in the death of six million Jews -not counting the death of soldiers from World War II. Although many Jews died during the Holocaust, some survived and spoke about their struggles and experiences. Art Spiegelman, an American cartoonist, interviewed his father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Holocaust survivor. After collecting information from the interviews with his father, Spiegelman, created Maus, a comic book novelRead MoreThe Holocaust During World War II1651 Words   |  7 PagesThe holocaust was the genocide of European Jews and other gr oups by the Nazis during World War II. It lasted from 1933 to 1945, as a horrible time in history. Approximately 11 million people were killed, and almost 1 million of those killed were innocent children. It is well-known that there were a number of survivors, yet not many people know exactly how these people survived. The most known thing about the holocaust are the concentration camps. A concentration camp is defined by, â€Å"a place whereRead MoreThe Holocaust : A Major Effect On Judaism1409 Words   |  6 PagesThe holocaust had a major effect on Judaism as a whole. This conflict between tragedy and faith is not new. Jewish history shows us that the jewish people have undergone the most terrible persecutions and genocide at the hands of many oppressors. Whether it be about the pogroms, crusades, destruction of the Temples, the jewish people have been at the brunt of the most terrible atrocities, and yet this does not shake their faith,Anti-Semitism was nothing new. This became even more evident with theRead MoreThe Psychological Effects Of The Holocaust1190 Words   |  5 Pagessituation where you are housed with a lion in one room, what will you feel? Would you be comfortable? That feeling is the exact feeling that the victims of the holocaust were experiencing during the periods they li ved in the camps (Levine 350-360). The mental health of the Holocaust survivors was indeed complex and varied. Literature about the Holocaust reveals there was shock upon the arrival in the death camps for the Jews. Their experience is next to the unexplainable. The only sure thing for them atRead MoreEssay on Literary Insperation of the Holocaust1664 Words   |  7 PagesLiterary Insperation of the Holocaust Why do the survivors of such a tragic event such as the Holocaust want to remember those horrifying times by writing about memories that most people would only want to forget? I will show, Weisel has talked about, and as others have written, that the victims of the holocaust wrote about their experiences not only to preserve the history of the event, but so that those who were not involved and those who did survive can understand what really happened.Read MoreThe Holocaust And Its Effects On Survivors1442 Words   |  6 PagesThe Holocaust was a really tragic event that took place in the period from January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945, during the Holocaust about 11 million Jews were killed (Wikipedia) by a german group that saw the Jewish people as an inferior race, the Nazis, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, mercilessly killed all of those unfortunate to be caught. To this day, there are still survivors that witnessed this horrifying event, there are also journals and articles th at explain in great detail how the HolocaustRead MoreEssay on The Holocaust: The Concentration Camps1484 Words   |  6 PagesHolocaust is the most terrible human action in the history. It absolutely marks the ending of the previous mentality of human-beings. Therefore, a new round of discovery of evilness of human nature has been established. Best uncovering the truth of Holocaust will help prevent the furthur destuction of humanism, which is the most important mission of the society after World War II. There are many sources of Holocaust trying to best uncover the truth, such as the inhabitant’s experience of the immediateRead MoreThe Most Traumatic Event Of The 20th Century1073 Words   |  5 PagesCentury The Holocaust is known as one of the darkest side and one of the most vast hardships in the 20th century. â€Å"Holocaust,† comes from the Greek words, â€Å"holos† and â€Å"kaustos.† The word, â€Å"holos,† means whole and the word, â€Å"kaustos,† means burned. It was historically used to illustrate a sacrificial offering of the burning on an altar. Ever since 1945, this word has been taken to a whole other level. Today, the meaning behind this word is the universal murder of 6 million Jews (The Holocaust). In 1933Read MoreEssay Bare Witness of the Holocaust1435 Words   |  6 PagesBearing witness When we encounter a Holocaust survivor, a lot of questions come to our mind. We start to wonder how did they manage to survive. We tend to assume that once the Holocaust was over, survivors began to reestablish their lives and their pain disappeared. However, Holocaust survivors suffered, and even after 70 years after the liberation, Holocaust survivors still experience difficulties on their day-to-day basis. In the years followed the Holocaust they struggled with their painful memoriesRead MoreMental Health in Holocaust Survivors1554 Words   |  6 Pagessecond generation holocaust survivors Sarah Getz Suffolk University â€Æ' Rationale†¨ Many American immigrants have been affected in both their mental health and family history by Nazi concentration camp experiences. This group of Americans has a unique cultural and psychological history. Many researchers have focused on this cultural group. The term survivor syndrome (Krystal, 1968; Krystal Niederland, 1971) was coined to describe some of the negative symptoms holocaust survivors experienced. This