The Third Generation – Scenic Memory of the Shoah
A multi-method study on the impact of the Holocaust on Survivors’ offspring in Germany
Project status
Pilot study: 2017; Main study: 2019-2021
Principal investigator
Dr. Kurt Grünberg (SFI Frankfurt a. M., DPV/IPA)
Group analyst
Elli Kaminer-Zamberk (SGAZ)
Group-analytical expert validation
Prof. Dr. Sarah Yvonne Brandl (KatHO NRW, D3G)
Research associates
Dipl.-Psych. Simon E. Arnold
Dipl.-Psych. Lena Dierker
Sc. Psych. Tom David Uhlig
Supervision
Dr. med. Friedrich Markert
Scientific advisory board
Prof. Dr. Patrick Meurs (SFI Frankfurt a. M., Universität Kassel)
Prof. Dr. Astrid Messerschmidt (Bergische Universität Wuppertal)
Cooperation partner
Anne Frank educational centre
Interns
Rahel Kloos
Sofie-Marie Truskolaski
Extensive research on the aftermath of the extreme trauma of Survivors of the Shoah has confirmed the transgenerational transmission to the sons and daughters, the Second Generation. So far, there have been only few definite findings about the Third Generation, the grandchildren of Survivors, and many unanswered questions on the effects of the Holocaust on future generations remain. In pursuing an elaborate, multi-method approach that combines group sessions and psychoanalytic methods this study will broaden the understanding of the experiences of the Third Generation, especially in Germany.
The planned research project aims at elucidating identifications, loyalties and conflicts of the Third Generation in ways that they are being expressed ‘scenically’. The intention is to investigate which meanings the grandparents’ experiences of persecution have for their life. Hence the focus lies on the current anti-Semitism. Therefore, the study pays special attention on how the Third Generation experiences anti-Semitism, their fears and worries, as well as their coping and processing strategies. In order to investigate unconscious processes of the transgenerational transmission of extremely traumatic experiences that are being transmitted nonverbally and ‘scenically’, the Scenic Memory of the Shoah is placed at the center of our research project.
Previous studies have produced inconsistent findings by either employing single clinical case analyses or classical quantitative methods. Due to methodological and conceptual limitations, they have also run the risk of either attributing to the victims and their descendants psychopathological symptoms or concrete behavior without symbolic content. With reference to the concept of resilience they have also misjudged the profound nature of traumatization. In combination with group sessions with members of the Third Generation in a non-clinical setting, there will be an analysis of psychoanalytical case vignettes. The main study will be based on our pilot study of 2017, which served to develop and validate the methods, as well as to generate working hypotheses.
Insights into such difficult processes of unconscious workings of trauma will be of fundamental importance for the further investigation of long-term effects of traumatic experiences as well as for psychotherapeutic and societal ways of dealing with them. In cooperation with our partners and scientific advisors we are conceptualizing workshops, guidelines for counseling as well as the development of pedagogical materials and handouts for teachers. In addition, the ideas and proposals for protection and prevention as well as intervention, education and support against anti-Semitism should be identified. With the focus on Europe, and especially on Germany as “the country of the perpetrators”, the project will broaden the scope of the research on the Third Generation that has previously mostly been conducted in the United States, Canada or Israel.
Abstract
The National Socialist persecution of Jews did not end with the liberation of those who had barely gotten away with their lives at the capitulation of Germany on May 8, 1945. For years and decades “after” being liberated, their lives have been profoundly influenced by the psychosocial aftermaths of the Shoah. Extensive research on the aftermath of the extreme trauma of Survivors has also confirmed the transgenerational transmission, especially to the Second Generation. So far, there have been only few definite findings about the Third Generation, the grandchildren of Survivors, and many unanswered questions on the effects of the Holocaust on future generations remain. In addition, the research has been focused on verbal transgenerational transmission of traumatic experiences. While the “scenic“ transmission — verbal and non-verbal elements of situations, relationships, actions, and dialogues — has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Due to methodological and conceptual limitations, previous studies have also run the risk of either attributing to the victims and their descendants psychopathological symptoms or concrete behavior without symbolic content or with reference to the concept of resilience they have misjudged the profound nature of traumatization.
The proposed research project aims at elucidating identifications, loyalties and conflicts of the Third Generation in ways that they are being expressed ‘scenically’. We will investigate which meanings the grandparents’ experiences of persecution have for the life of the Third Generation of survivors, especially in Germany today. Hence we will focus on the current anti-Semitism. Therefore, the study pays special attention on how the Third Generation experiences anti-Semitism, their fears and worries, as well as their coping and processing strategies. In addition, the ideas and proposals for protection and prevention as well as intervention, education and support against anti-Semitism should be identified. We will pursue an elaborate, multi-method approach which combines group sessions and psychoanalytic case vignettes that will be conducted and analyzed with three qualitative methods (psychoanalytic method of the Scenic Memory of the Shoah, group-analytical validation by experts and Documentary Method). The main study will be based on our pilot study of 2017, which served to develop and validate the methods, as well as to generate working hypotheses.