Catastrophic Grief, Trauma, and Resilience in Child Concentration Camp Survivors

Tracey Farber worked full time as a clinical psychologist, supervisor, and trainer in private practice for 24 years in Johannesburg, where she specialized in treating traumatized adults, adolescents and children. After completing her PhD in 2019, she moved to Israel. At present she works as a clinical psychologist at Psychological Services, Student Success Centre, Tel Aviv University, and as a psychotherapist in private practice in Tel Aviv. She developed a psychoeducational program called “Understanding Trauma and Building Resilience” that was developed from her PhD research. This program has been taught to mental health workers, students, teachers, and parents as well as employees and managers.Gill Eagle is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand. She lectures primarily on the master's program in Clinical Psychology and is also a core member of the doctoral team overseeing research work. Her research interests lie in the field of psychosocial studies, with a particular focus on traumatic stress and gender and issues. She runs a small private practice, working primarily within a relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy framework. Cora Smith is Adjunct Professor in the Division of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of the Witwatersrand. She also holds a joint appointment post as the Chief Clinical Psychologist at the Child, Adolescent and Family Unit at Johannesburg Hospital. Her interests are in the development of personality pathology through the life cycle with a particular focus on attachment. She has a keen interest in the ethical dilemmas that emerge in clinical practice.

“This is a well-written, organized, and accessible book and an important addition to the literature on the long-term impacts of severe childhood trauma in the lives of Holocaust survivors… The authors discuss the trauma trilogy of grief, anger, and survivor guilt; how revisited memories can retraumatize survivors as they come to belated understandings of childhood losses; the mediating impact of early attachment on resiliency; and the catastrophic grief and lack of closure that is ubiquitous among all interviewees.” — M. D. Lagerwey, emeritus, Western Michigan University, CHOICE“A book, raw in the visceral descriptions of the effects of the Holocaust provided by ageing child survivors as they painfully and courageously re-visit their experiences in the camps, the death marches and beyond. A book of inspiration in the warmth and compassion of the interviewer who listened and cared and whose personal resonances with the survivors shone through. A hugely informative book in all authors’ scholarly research on complex trauma, complicated bereavement, ageing, resilience and existential loneliness. A remarkable, must read book in contemporary times not only for its collection of rare testimonies of ageing survivors of the holocaust but for its insights into the very long term but individual effects of massive collective trauma, which continue to dog the twenty first century. It is a testimony to despair and hope, trauma and resilience, and a must read for those who at least wish to try to understand.” — Gillian Straker, Clinical Professor, University Of Sydney; Visiting Research Professor, University Witwatersrand

• AcknowledgementsForewordProfessor Diana ShmuklerPrefaceTracey FarberIntroductionTracey Farber, Gillian Eagle, Cora Smith1. Literature ReviewTracey Farber2. Research ApproachTracey Farber, Gillian Eagle, Cora Smith3. Experiences and Testimonies of Child Concentration Camp SurvivorsTracey Farber HeleneDaveMiriamLennaIsaacAnneShlomoRinaMenachem4. Findings and Discussion: Themes of Trauma and Devastating Loss That Emerged from Testimony of Child Concentration Camp SurvivorsTracey Farber 5. Reflexivity and CountertransferenceTracey Farber6. InterventionsTracey Farber7. Temporality and the Reevaluation of Memories in Aging Child Holocaust Survivors: A Developmental TrajectoryCora Smith8. A Particular Form of Complex TraumatizationGillian Eagle9. What Can Be Learned from Child Concentration Camp Survivors about the Impact of Severe Trauma and Its Long-Term Impact on AgingTracey Farber, Gillian Eagle, Cora Smith10. Responding to the Needs of Aging Child Holocaust Survivors and Other Survivors of Severe Early TraumaTracey Farber, Gillian Eagle, Cora SmithBibliographyAppendix 1. Ethical Clearance CertificateAppendix 2. Turnitin Plagiarism Report