Childhood Perspectives of the Holocaust in Jurek Becker’s “The Wall” and “The Invisible City,” and Frank Beyer’s film While All Germans Are Sleeping

At the age of eight, Polish-Jewish child survivor Jurek Becker settled with his father in the Soviet Occupation Zone of Berlin, later becoming a professional writer in the German Democratic Republic. He left after a series of protests by artists and intellectuals against the expatriation of dissident singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann, and took up residence in the Federal Republic of Germany. The author of the present study addresses Becker’s short story “Die Mauer” (The Wall) and testimonial essay “Die unsichtbare Stadt” (The Invisible City), along with Frank Beyer’s 1991 film Wenn alle Deutschen schlafen (While All Germans Are Sleeping), based on “The Wall.” In particular, the author analyzes all three works in relation to other fictional representations of the Holocaust and discourses of childhood, imagination, and play. It draws on M.M. Bakhtin’s theories of narrative strategy and Johan Huizinga’s ideas about the “ludic element” (essentially, play) needed to survive totalitarian systems such as Nazism, to argue for valuing such works as important expressions by child survivors.

Intimate partner violence

This chapter outlines the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the UK, describes adverse effects for adult and child survivor-victims, and synthesizes evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to (i) prevent IPV, (ii) identify IPV, (iii) support adults and children affected by IPV, and (iv) treat perpetrators. Prevention covers school- and community-based dating violence prevention as well as media/educational campaigns and home visiting. Identification covers activity in hvealthcare and other services. Interventions for victim-survivors include advocacy, skill-building, counselling, therapy, and groups, and cover both adults and children. Treatments for perpetrators include group and individual and therapeutic and non-therapeutic approaches. The chapter closes with recommendations for practice.

What bloody film is this? "Macbeth" for our time

When Roman Polanski’s Macbeth hit the screens in 1971, its bloody imagery, pessimism, violence and nudity were often perceived as excessive or at least highly controversial. While the film was initially analysed mostly in relation to Polanski’s personal life, his past as a WWII child survivor and the husband of the murdered pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, in retrospect its bleak imagery speaks not only for his unique personal experience but also serves as a powerful comment on the American malaise, fears and paranoia that were triggered, amongst other things, by the brutal act of the Manson Family. We had to wait forty four years for another mainstream adaptation of the play and it is tempting not only to compare Kurzel’s Macbeth to its predecessor in terms of how more accepting we have become of graphic depictions of violence on screen but also to ask a more fundamental question: if in future years we were to historicise the new version, what would it tell us about the present moment? The paper proposes that despite its medieval setting and Scottish scenery, the film’s visual code seems to transgress any specific time or place. Imbued in mist, its location becomes more fluid and evocative of any barren and sterile landscape that we have come to associate with war. Seen against a larger backdrop of the current political climate with its growing nationalism and radicalism spanning from the Middle East, through Europe to the US, Kurzel’s Macbeth with its numerous bold textual interventions and powerful mise-en-scène offers a valid response to the current political crisis. His ultra brutal imagery and the portrayal of children echo Polanski’s final assertion of perpetuating violence, only this time, tragically and more pessimistically, with children as not only the victims of war but also its active players.

Child Survivors in Deutschland

Die Child Survivors, deren seelische Entwicklung am nachhaltigsten von der Nazi-Verfolgung geprägt und beschädigt wurde, werden oftmals noch heute nicht wahrgenommen und anerkannt. Während Tilo Held in der Zeitschrift Psyche (8/2014) über eben diese Gruppe erklärte, »die Zeit ihrer Implikation in Forschungsprojekte ist vorbei«, widmen sich die Autoren mit ihrer Forschungsarbeit den psychosozialen Spätfolgen der Verfolgung der Child Survivors und postulieren eine vierte Sequenz des traumatischen Prozesses im Alter. Anhand der Auseinandersetzung mit Child-Survivor-Tagungen im Jahr 2014 in Berlin werden Mikroprozesse des Szenischen Erinnerns der Shoah dargestellt, die sich sowohl auf die Trauma-Tradierung als auch auf zentrale Konflikte im deutsch-jüdischen Verhältnis im post-nationalsozialistischen Deutschland beziehen, wie sie sich auch im Forschungsprojekt des jüdischen Psychoanalytikers in Deutschland mit seinem nicht-jüdisch-deutschen Kollegen zugetragen haben. Das Einbrechen des Szenischen Erinnerns der Shoah in die Forschungsbeziehung wird als Manifestation einer konträren Holocaust Imagery verstanden. Einige Fallvignetten illustrieren das »Szenische Erinnern der Shoah« der Child Survivors.

Quality of the relationship between origin of childhood perception of attachment and outcome of attachment associated with diagnosis of PTSD in adult Finnish war children and Finnish combat veterans from World War II (1939–1945) – DSM-IV applications of the attachment theory

ABSTRACTBackground:Using diagnoses exclusively, comparable evaluations of the empirical evidence relevant to the content can be made. The term holocaust survivor syndrome according to the DSM-IV classification encompasses people with diagnoses of posttraumatic stress disorders and psychopathological symptoms exposed to the Nazi genocide from 1933–1945 identified by Natan Kellermann, AMCHA, Israel (1999).Methods:The relationships between disorders of affectionate parenting and the development of dysfunctional models on one hand, and various psychopathological disorders on the other hand were investigated. Multi-axial assessment based on PTSD diagnosis (APA, 2000) with DSM-IV classification criteria of holocaust survivor syndrome and child survivor syndrome earlier found in holocaust survivors was used as criteria for comparison among Finnish sub-populations.Results:Symptoms similar to those previously described in association with holocaust survivor syndrome and child survivor syndrome were found in the population of Finnish people who had been displaced as children between 1939–1945.Conclusions:Complex PTSD syndrome is found among survivors of prolonged or repeated trauma who have coping strategies intended to assist their mental survival. Surviving Finnish child evacuees had symptoms at similar level to those reported among holocaust survivors, though Finnish combat veterans exhibited good mental adjustment with secure attachment.