Essay: Cultural Resilience in Descendants of Holocaust Survivors

This is my final paper for the Human Development class, Fall 2022.

Cultural Resilience in Descendants of Holocaust Survivors by Libra Kaplan, Expressive Arts Therapy (EXA) program, CIIS, December 19, 2022.

Cultural Resilience

Large-scale trauma events such as the Holocaust are considered mass or collective trauma and the trauma sustained can have a broad reach, impacting not only the survivors but their families, communities, and future offspring (Kidron et al., 2019). When descendants of survivors who had no direct experience with the mass traumatic event experience related trauma, this is said to be transmitted, and the process itself can be referred to collectively as intergenerational transmission of trauma or ITT (Greenfeld, 2022).

There is a growing body of research that explores ITT among Holocaust survivors (HS) and their descendants (Dashorst et al., 2019; Greenfeld et al., 2022; Kidron et al., 2019; Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018). A landmark study by Yehuda et al. (2016) suggests that there may be a biological aspect as well, and that trauma may be passed on epigenetically from HS to their offspring (HSO). Yet, one cannot have a conversation about trauma without also speaking of resilience. Resilience is not a superpower according to Ann Masten (2019), but an “ordinary magic”; it is a capacity for successfully adapting to threats on one’s “…viability, function, or development” (p. 101). While resilience is typically built through healthy adversity—not too much and not zero (Jones-Smith, 2021)—it tends to be looked at from an either/or perspective: either someone is resilient, or they are traumatized (Kidron et al., 2019).

When it comes to descendants of Holocaust survivors, resilience can be harder to qualify. “It may reflect the absence of psychopathology, the presence of positive attributes or outcomes, or certain biological adaptations” (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018, p. 23). Additionally, multiple criteria may be present, creating a potentially inconsistent representation.

This paper will look at resilience through the lens of Holocaust survivors’ offspring and will argue that cultural resilience is not binary. Emergent themes from current published research will be examined, as well as using the expressive arts as a tool for healing, cultural connection, and continuing wellness.

Some terms may be used interchangeably throughout this paper: Intergenerational transmission of trauma (ITT) and transmitted trauma; Holocaust survivors (HS) and survivors; and Holocaust survivors’ offspring (HSO) and descendants, offspring, and/or second generation. Clarification will be made as necessary to avoid ambiguity.

Literature Review

Resilience in the Second Generation

According to the American Psychological Association (2020), resilience is “…the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress” (para. 4). Yet, “adapting well” is a flexible term that could describe varied outcomes depending on the context and/or population (Arnett & Jensen, 2019).

How does resilience manifest in the lives of descendants of Holocaust survivors? The answer is complex and can appear contradictory. Themes such as badge of honor and resilient vulnerability highlighted this complexity (Greenfeld, 2020; Kidron et al., 2019), as did unique meaning making (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018).

Badge of Honor

Jewish-Israeli descendants in the Kidron et al. (2019) study referred to themselves as ‘srutim’, meaning scratched in Hebrew, a mark they wear with pride; it both honors ancestral memory and acknowledges their woundedness, that they have indeed been affected by their parents’ experience. “The Holocaust descendant's emotive scar is seen by respondents as a culturally valorized form of commemorative remembering and worn as an empowering badge of honor” (p. 7).

Similarly, Greenfeld (2022) looked at third-generation descendants’ experience and noted the same badge of honor theme. Participants said they were aware that they carry a scar, which was both a badge of honor and a reminder of their grandparents’ survival, and their own gift of life as a result.

Unique Meaning-Making

Honoring the dead and remembering collective trauma are considered moral imperatives in Judaism (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018). Examples of this are seen in the practice of candle lighting on the yarzeiht (death anniversary) of a passed-on family member, and in the Passover holiday, which commemorates a traumatic event by honoring what was sacrificed and celebrating the life that is here. Additionally, the concept of tikkun olam, meaning “repair the world”, instructs Jews to leave the world a better place than they found it (Fogelman, 1998). This may inform a cultural understanding that within suffering there may also be opportunity for growth and meaning making. Neurologist and famous Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, based his form of existential psychology, logotherapy, on this very premise: that life has meaning under all circumstances (Jones-Smith, 2021). For HSO, “Remembering trauma may also have adaptational value in terms of ensuring that communities and individuals maintain vigilance for their safety and survival and stand in solidarity with other communities facing violence and injustice” (Lehrner & Yehuda, 2018, p. 25).

Resilient Vulnerability

Research points to descendants having a profile of higher vulnerability (higher risk for psychological problems, increased sensitivity to social or interpersonal stressors), and one of resilience (healthy coping mechanisms, positive adaptive qualities) (Greenfeld, 2022). Kidron et al. (2019) offers the term “resilient vulnerability” to describe how these aspects of risk factors and protective buffers interact culturally. “Hence, descendants cannot be characterized simply as vulnerable or resilient because they remain both vulnerable and empowered by the scars of past and present ‘difference’” (p. 5). Greenfeld (2022) echoed this theme of resilient vulnerability, as did Lehrner and Yehuda (2018).

It is important to note here that although this paper is positioned from a strengths-based theoretical framework (Jones-Smith, 2013), and is focused on resilience (rather than trauma), this is not meant to deny the presence of transmitted trauma in descendants. Lehrner and Yehuda (2018) found that descendants’ wellbeing was mediated to a large extent by whether survivor parents were able to work through their Holocaust experience.

Expressive Arts

Resilience is often described along with protective factors, which are strengths and/or skills commonly found in resilient people. These are “…things we do, have, and practice, that give us the bounce” (Brown, n.d., para. 3); as in, to be able to bounce back from adversity and move forward and thrive. Some protective factors are: Being resourceful; having a growth-oriented attitude and self-esteem; belief in one’s capacity to cope mentally and physically; favorable demographics (e.g., higher income and education level); and a strong support system including family, faith/spirituality/personal ideologies (Brown, n.d.; Kidron et al., 2019; Rubin, 2020). Of these, a strong support system may be the strongest promoter of resilience as it connects to hope, optimism, and belonging (Brown, n.d.; Diamond and Shrira (2018); Jones-Smith, 2021). Creative engagement in the expressive arts—movement, sound, drawing, painting, writing, drama, play— may bolster self-esteem, encourage feelings of hope and meaning, as well as offer emotional and psychological repair of past trauma (Malchiodi, 2020). Could engaging with the expressive arts be considered a protective factor?

“Creative self-expression is intrinsically curative and promotes a person’s well-being and health” (Jones-Smith, 2021, p. 277). Diamond and Shrira (2018) conducted research with older Holocaust survivors (mean age = 81.67) and found a positive link between higher resilience in HS who engaged in creative art making than those who did not, noting that it may “…connect to working through of traumatic memories” (p. 237).

Drama therapy may offer a path forward for HSO to face their history, work through traumatic memories and foster belonging and connection with other descendants (Levine & Levine, 1998). In Foundations of Expressive Art Therapy, Levine and Levine (1998) describe the psychodrama therapy workshops they lead annually “…designed specifically for Jewish sons and daughters of Holocaust survivors and Germans of the generation after World War II” (p. 223). Their results point to drama therapy being a potentially transformative process of healing and growth for descendants.

Expressive arts therapist, Cathy Malchiodi (2020) writes that the expressive arts in therapy can offer “…meaning making experiences and ways to imagine new narratives post-trauma” (p. 99).

My Hypothesis

Cultural resilience is not binary. Resilience is a concept and a quality, both innate and capable of being developed; it tends to be fostered through experiences of adversity and can also be built through training ((Figley, 2012). There exists a formal stance in the scientific community that positions trauma at one end of the scale and resilience on the other. In studies involving ITT, this binary approach tends to promote a metric of pathology versus wellness; either there is transmission of trauma or conferring of resilience (Kidron et al., 2019). However, it bears consideration that a broader, non-binary perspective be taken on resilience as an outcome of ITT. “Research on the resilient self cannot focus only on the individual psyche, but must examine the self as embedded in relations with others in the family, community, larger social networks, and the environment” (Kidron et al., 2019, p. 2). This is not to say that resilience as it has thus far been studied and defined must be discarded, but that cultural resilience be included in the dialogue, to expand the understanding of what constitutes adaptability within a culture.

As the literature has demonstrated, cultural resiliency may be multi-dimensional, influenced by a person’s culture, ethnicity, religion, environment, and community. Adaptive mechanisms may co-exist with traits that appear both as risk factors and protective buffers. This “both/and” positionality may help to provide a more holistic framework for understanding the complexity of resilience among survivor offspring, as well other collective trauma survivors with multi-cultural identities. It may also help to reconceptualize the “…Euro-Western biomedical binary of wellness and illness” (Kidron et. al, 2019, p. 8).

That resiliency is a cultural phenomenon may not be a wholly new idea. In his ecological systems theory of human development, Urie Bronfenbrenner (2000) articulated how personal and socio-cultural environments interact within historical context, to shape and contribute to one’s development and identity. Thus, if culture and historical context can shape phenotypically, then it may also be influential in the ways resilience manifests within that culture.

In her book, Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy, Malchiodi (2020) presents compelling research establishing expressive arts therapy as a viable option for strengthening existing cultural resilience and making space for healing. She also offers a new pivot point for the social sciences, moving from trauma-informed to what Shawn Ginwright (2018) calls healing-centered engagement, which builds on trauma-informed care and adds in social justice and intersectionality (see Ginwright, 2018). Malchiodi writes, “It shifts the perspective from ‘what’s happened to you’, to ‘what’s resilient about you’” (p. 103). Such a nuanced shift sets an example for how cultural resilience may need to be viewed—spotlighting strengths, without diminishing or pathologizing existing adaptability.

Conclusion

Cultural resilience is not binary; protective coping may exist alongside risk factors for HSO (Kidron, et al. 2019); and the expressive arts and expressive art therapy may build on existing protective factors and enhance adaptability (Diamond & Shrira, 2018; Malchiodi, 2020). This paper focused on one population—descendants of Holocaust survivors—and looked at resilience through the lens of ITT. Among the literature reviewed, two were phenomenological studies, with HSO participants coming from Israel (Kidron et al. 2019) and Australia (Greenfeld, 2022). Future research may wish to look at HSO from other geographic locations to explore and further broaden the understanding of cultural resilience. Additional studies with descendants might consider using specific modalities within expressive art therapy and from a healing-centered framework, as they may contribute to the hopefully growing tome of literature on cultural resilience as an outcome of transmitted trauma.

References

American Psychological Association. (2020, February 1). Building your resilience. https://www.apa.org/topics/resilience/building-your-resilience

Arnett, J. J., & Jensen, L. A. (2019). Human development: A cultural approach (Third edition). Pearson Education, Inc.

Brown, B. (n.d.). The gifts of imperfection: Let go of who you think you’re supposed to be and embrace who you are [Book Excerpt]. Spirituality & Practice. https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/25656/the-gifts-of-imperfection

Bronfenbrenner, U. (2000). Ecological systems theory. In Encyclopedia of Psychology, Vol. 3. (pp. 129–133). American Psychological Association.

Dashorst, P., Mooren, T. M., Kleber, R. J., de Jong, P. J., & Huntjens, R. J. C. (2019). Intergenerational consequences of the Holocaust on offspring mental health: A systematic review of associated factors and mechanisms. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1654065. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1654065

Diamond, S., & Shrira, A. (2018, June). Psychological vulnerability and resilience of Holocaust survivors engaged in creative art. Psychiatry Research, 264, 236–243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.04.013

Figley, C. (2012). Resilience, growth, and thriving. In Encyclopedia of Trauma: An Interdisciplinary Guide (pp. 550–553). SAGE Publications, Inc. https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/trauma/n186.xml

Fogelman, E. (1998). Group Belonging and mourning as factors in resilience in the second generation of Holocaust survivors. https://evafogelman.com/publications/group-belonging-and-mourning/

Ginwright, S. (2018). The future of healing: Shifting from trauma informed care to healing centered engagement. Occasional Paper, 25, 25–32.

Greenfeld, D., Reupert, A., & Jacobs, N. (2022, July 13). Living alongside past trauma: Lived experiences of Australian grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. Family Relations (pp.1-15). https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12737

Jones-Smith, E. (2013). Strengths-based therapy: Connecting theory, practice, and skills. SAGE Publications.

Jones-Smith, E. (2021). Theories of counseling and psychotherapy: An integrative approach (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Kidron, C. A., Kotliar, D. M., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2019, October). Transmitted trauma as badge of honor: Phenomenological accounts of Holocaust descendant resilient vulnerability. Social Science & Medicine, 239, 112524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112524

Lehrner, A., & Yehuda, R. (2018, January). Trauma across generations and paths to adaptation and resilience. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 10(1), 22–29. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000302

Levine, E. G., & Levine, S. K. (1998). Foundations of expressive arts therapy: Theoretical and clinical perspectives. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ciis-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1908988

Malchiodi, C. A. (2020). Trauma and expressive arts therapy: Brain, body, and imagination in the healing process. Guilford Publications.

Rubin, E. (2020). Surviving the Holocaust: Trauma and resiliency in later life. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63(3), 139–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2019.1709248

Yehuda, R., Daskalakis, N. P., Bierer, L. M., Bader, H. N., Klengel, T., Holsboer, F., & Binder, E. B. (2016). Holocaust exposure induced intergenerational effects on FKBP5 methylation. Biological Psychiatry, 80(5), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.08.005