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November 15, 2002
Progression or betrayal?
Second generation must separate past from present.
KAREN SEGAL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Children of Holocaust survivors – the second generation –
must be able to imagine a world "where the Holocaust is not
the foundation of our reality." And they must be able to understand
it and place it in history, according to author and professor Eva
Hoffman.
Hoffman made the remarks during her speech After Such Knowledge:
The Meaning of the Second-Generation Experience at the annual Kristallnacht
memorial service at Beth Israel Synagogue Nov. 10.
"Holocaust memories can become a compelling fairy tale,"
she said, explaining what happens when a child is told the story
of something so powerful that it becomes a dominant element in their
lives.
The second generation of any atrocity share many commonalities,
she said. The great paradox is that, while the atrocity can overshadow
their lives, it is something that they have never actually experienced.
As children, they are given only fragments of memories of the atrocities
because survivors may find it too difficult to express the fullness
of what happened or they may simply have been trying to protect
their children, Hoffman said. And even if it is spoken there is
"silence behind the words and a mood of mourning." The
unintentional result is that children are left with no real comprehension
of the situation but rather an almost mythological view of it.
Hoffman shared from her own experience as a member of the second
generation.
" 'In the beginning' for me was the war," she said. "It
penetrated the fabric of childhood and fear seemed a natural and
fundamental human condition.... [It was] a fairytale of good and
evil."
Such deeply ingrained memories leave traces on psyches, what Hoffman
calls the transmission of trauma. This may result in uncanny re-enactments
where a second generation member takes on the persona of a dead
relative or repeats the act of hiding or is terrified at being separated
from parents. There may also be a strange envy, Hoffman said, wanting
to have been at the centre of something so enormous. She identifies
this as "significance envy."
The world has gone from past indifference to almost an obsession
with these memories, said Hoffman. But, in the case of the post-generation,
there is insufficient knowledge and a greater distance from the
atrocities that results in the Holocaust becoming "an object
of formulaic piety."
This can lead to great violations, she said, as when a Swiss man
wrote a book about his childhood Holocaust experience that turned
out to be a complete fabrication. By using the Holocaust, he gave
historical grandeur to his rather ordinary story of suffering. Therefore,
it is imperative that the children of Holocaust survivors guard
against distortions about the Holocaust, Hoffman said.
The second generation needs to move beyond family stories into a
broader outlook, according to Hoffman. They must separate past from
present. This is a normal progression but one that may feel like
a betrayal. Hoffman herself felt that she couldn't even change the
wording of the memories. But she eventually arrived at insight and
moved on from the childhood horror.
It is in this kind of remembering, said Hoffman, where the past
is put into its proper place in history, that will help ensure that
the Holocaust is not forgotten.
Hoffman was born to Holocaust survivors in Poland but the family
migrated to Vancouver in 1959 when she was 13. After graduating
from high school, Hoffmann went to university in the United States
and moved on to a successful career as an editor and author. Her
books include Lost in Translation (1989), Exit into History:
A Journey Through the New Eastern Europe (1993) and Shtetl:
The Life and Death of a Small Town and the World of Polish Jews
(1997).
The Kristallnacht memorial began with opening remarks from Dr. Chris
Friedrichs, chair of the Kristallnacht commemorative program committee.
It then moved to the lighting of six candles in memory of the six
million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Each candle was lit by a witness/survivor,
along with a member of the second or third generation. Vancouver
Coun. Lynne Kennedy read the city proclamation declaring Kristallnacht
Day.
Hoffman's lecture was presented by the Vancouver Holocaust Education
Centre and Congregation Beth Israel. Sponsorship was by the Vancouver
Holocaust Centre Society with assistance from the Gottfried Family
Kristallnacht Fund, Congregation Beth Israel and the Jewish Federation
of Greater Vancouver Endowment Fund.
Karen Segal is a freelance writer living in North Vancouver.
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