| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Many
times a story told by a Holocaust survivor
becomes a significant thread in an interview
with a son, daughter, or even a grandchild
of that survivor, explained Dr. Hannah
Kliger, associate dean for academic affairs
and professor of communication and Jewish
studies at Penn State Abington. Kliger
is a researcher with The Transcending
Trauma Project, dedicated to the exploration
of Holocaust survivor coping and adaptation.
These key, pivotal memories have been
relayed within the family setting, the
story itself becoming a way for an adult
child of survivors to make meaning of
his or her parent's experience as well
as his or her own life choices. Take this
story told by a child (also a grandchild)
of Holocaust survivors, as an example:
"She takes her shawl and puts it
over her head and walks away from the
hundreds, perhaps, [of] women, that are
being marched at gunpoint. And she took
an out, she took the choice, she took
control of her destiny, and as I interpret
it, very calmly decided how she's going
to determine the rest of her life, whatever
it is. And she has said and has written
that … she consciously made this
very logical decision. If she turns around
and walks away, she'll get shot in the
back, and it will be over. And if she
makes it, she'll get to be with her kids.
And there is some courage in that ...
"That incident evokes for me courage,
control, solitude, the self-reliance that
I think informs a lot of what I do in
my life. ... There's a defiance in general
about rules and especially in crowds.
But it sort of filters in all parts of
my life. That following what everyone
is supposed to be doing somewhere in my
consciousness means sure and certain death.
… if I want to survive, I have to
be on my own as a solo player, away from
the crowd. I think that plays out a lot
in my life."
-
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
