Children and Trauma

Traumatic events affect children in a much more profound way than they do adults. Because the Holocaust is a trauma of such unspeakable magnitude, one can barely imagine the complex effects it must have had on Jewish children. Yet many of those who survived went on to lead productive and successful lives. How did they manage to do so, and what kind of barriers did they have to overcome?

Children, especially those under 16 or 17, do not have the developed personality or psychological structures necessary to deal with horrors and trauma. They are not prepared to be separated from their parents, assume false identities, hide with strangers or witness such cruelty, suffering and death that defined the Holocaust. Childhood traumatization was thus greater than that of adults because it disturbed the child's devlopmental process. The effect was often a repression or internalization of memories that would come to haunt the survivor in later life.

Research in child psychology has proven that the popular belief that children have no memory of their earliest experiences is false. In other words, a child is never too young to remember. Even infants store memory in sensory form, which sometimes causes painful flashbacks in adulthood. Sensory or auditory stimuli often produce these responses, which include nightmares.

The Holocaust went far beyond any other kind of trauma expeienced by human beings. In addition to witnessing massive suffering, children experienced constant fear of emergency. To survive, one had to be vigilant, clever and imaginative, but traumatic events could still happen at the drop of a hat. Parents could disappear suddenly or children could find themselves in a different hiding place every night. This stress, irregularity and the fear of what COULD happen in addition to what actually did, interfered with a child's developmental phases and normal growth.

For the Jewish child of the Holocaust, survival meant a suppression of feelings. A cry in the night, or a plea of hunger or pain, could have compromised the child's life. Children thus learned to "not feel" at all, which sometimes helped them to face torture and death. However, many of them became apathetic to their own feelings and to those of others.

Repressed memories also caused child survivors to constantly recreate the victim/oppressor scenario over and over again. Sometimes they would act it out with their own children, straining the parent/child relationship and transmitting the trauma to the next generation. Others felt extreme guilt or anxiety all the time, usually because they did not understand why they survived when so many others had died. It seemed as if they, too, should have been part of that six million.

For child survivors, post-war traumas were almost as great as wartime stresses. Some had to leave their caretakers and return to biological parents who had become strangers. Others went to orphanages or migrated to other countries, especially the U.S. Those who migrated had to adapt to new surroundings, a new culture and a new language. Parents and other adults would tell young children that there was no possible way they could remember what happened, or that they should not remember. They also came to believe that their memories were inaccurate or invalid. Most children grew up thinking their parents were the survivors, not them. It was not until 35 to 45 years after the war did child survivors recognize themselves as such, thus beginning the healing process.

Despite the trauma they faced, children never ceased to be children. They played even in ghettos and concentration camps, where their games often took on disturbing and morbid characteristics. After the war, even those who experienced bed-wetting and nightmares eventually became socialized, made friends and had productive lives. Perhaps the key to this psychological survival was recognizing oneself AS a survivor. This was often difficult because it was contrary to the previous need to hide one's Jewish identity. But it allowed one to join groups of survivors, to talk with them and to realize he or she was neither alone nor inferior. To realize one was a survivor rather than a victim usually produced pride, and a sense of purpose to prevent further tragedies.

Child survivors attest that they have begun to heal their wounds by reading about the Holocaust, talking to others, and visiting the places where they experienced the war. Writing memoirs has been helpful because survivors want to ensure that the world does not forget them. Child survivor groups, especially, provide a forum to validate memories and identities, and also create a sense of belonging.

Child survivors of the Holocaust give us a unique perspective on how children deal with extreme trauma. Those that have led productive, successful lives give us hope that even youngsters who experience the unimaginable can emerge with dignity and humanity.