If Not Now e-Journal Letters to the EditorVolume 1, Winter 2000Volume 1, Fall 2000Volume 1, Spring 2000Volume 2, Winter 2001Volume 2, Spring 2001Volume 3, Winter 2002Volume 3, Spring 2002Volume 3, Fall 2002Volume 4, Fall 2003Volume 5, Fall 2004Volume 6, Spring/Summer 2006Volume 7, Winter 2007

Volume 3, Fall 2002 - If Not Now e-journal

The High Holidays have come and gone, and Jews around the world have wished each other a Happy New Year along with heartfelt wishes for a Peaceful New Year.  Last Spring, we spoke of the resilience of Survivors and their families, coping with terrorism and uncertainty in today’s world while still dealing with the impact of genocide in yesterday’s world.  As the population of Holocaust survivors age, often memory shortens the gap between the yesterdays and the todays.

This issue coincides with the International Child Survivors and Second Generation Conference entitled “Sharing the Past-Celebrating Life”.  This is a gathering of child survivors and hidden children, along with their children and other children of survivors, who are coming from around the world to meet in Toronto and discuss many of the themes and issues raised here. It would seem that time gives new perspectives and that the healing of today and tomorrow continues to be informed by the attempts to come to terms with the past.

Trauma, its presence, its impact and its transmission is the recurring theme of this edition of “If Not Now”.  It is an ironic tragedy that subsequent traumas continue to inform us of the complexity of the impact of genocide.  The impact of their parents’ experience on adult children of Holocaust survivors and subsequent generations is continually being considered and reconsidered. In their paper, Doctors Savin and Robinson look at the children of Cambodian survivors.  Dr. Halasz, talks of debunking myths and Doctors Hogman and Mitrani also look the impact of trauma.  Dr. Carmelly, a psychologist and a child survivor speaks of exploring her memory through history and writing.  Artist Lynn Rotin puts visuals on the face of trauma.  The more we learn about trauma, the better we will understand the potential for healing.  Through the Internet this potential has increased, as we are able to share information and increase our understanding. This edition of If Not Now demonstrates the diversity of caring and professionalism existing around the world.  As the Holy Days come to a close, I wish you all a Happy New Year, a Safe New Year and the strength to continue your important work in caring for survivors of the Holocaust.

Paula David
Editor; If Not Now
Coordinator, Holocaust
Resource Project
Baycrest Centre, Toronto
pdavid@baycrest.org

 

 

Volume 3, Fall 2002 Articles

• Children of Child Survivors of the Holocaust: Can Trauma be Transmitted Across the Generations?
• Holocaust and Memory, An Art Installation at Halifax’s Multicultural Gallery at Pier 21
• Holocaust Survivors and Survivors of the Cambodian Tragedy: Similarities and Differences
• Memory of the Holocaust
• Notes on Some Transferencial Effects of the Holocaust: Unmentalized Experience and Coincidence of Vulnerability in the Therapeutic Couple
• Excerpts from “Shattered! 50 Years of Silence, History and Voices of the Tragedy in Romania and Transnistria”