Last week, I had a wonderful experience in Montreal, meeting many new colleagues who work at the Cummings Centre, a gorgeous, vibrant center of Jewish life, with a fantastic art program, wellness program, offering multiple social services to the Jewish community. I was invited by Beth Finberg and Kim Morand-Zafrani to give a day workshop to the staff and the clinical team working at the center, many of who provide direct services to Holocaust survivors and their families.
While in Montreal, I also met many new second generation peers from a new group which has established itself recently, Montreal Voices of Children of Survivors. I presented a lecture to them about the scholarly debate about intergenerational transmission of effects related to the Holocaust to the second generation, and where we, the children of survivors, are at today. Anne Wycer from the second generation took me around the beautiful city of Montreal, and showed me the area where Jewish immigrants first came to live. I had a most delicious sandwich at the famous Moe Wilensky’s deli, just like Duddy Krawitz, Mordechai Richler’s protagonist in “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz”.
Some photos from my Montreal trip can be seen from the Twitter feed of the Canadian Jewish Holocaust Survivors & Descendants (CJHSD) organization, by clicking the image below.
Irit Felsen
I am glad to read that more and more psychologists and neuroscientists are researching and writing about the effects of (Holocaust) trauma on subsequent generations. I addressed this issue on a personal level in my book: A Holocaust Memoir of Love and Resilience: Mama’s Survival from Lithuania to the USA. https://amsterdampublishers.com/books/holocaust-memoir-of-love-resilience/
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Ettie Zilber
Thank you for letting me know about your book. It is important that as many of us as possible will document the experiences of our parents.