Holocaust messages from the past

The impact of the Holocaust on the functioning of the survivors in the role of parents, and its influence on the second generation, has now become apparent. Most research findings and observations point to typical characteristics of survivor parents, such as: over-protection, insecurity, separation anxiety, guilt, as well as excessive expectations of their children. While building new families, many of the survivors are haunted by memories of traumatic events-mainly the loss of former families, spouses, and children. The off-spring are often committed to a heritage they cannot understand, which they absorb either by over-exposure or through the protective cover of silence. It is their wish to find ways of transmitting these historical messages to the third generation without the heavy emotional burden they themselves experienced.All quotations are freely translated from the Israeli film Because of that War by Orna Ben-Dror, Niv, with the permission of the publishers-Shani films, Israel. In this film, Yehuda Poliker and his father Jacko, and Yacov Gilad and his mother, Alina, describe their personal experiences. The authentic stories of these two families represent an excellent example of the transmission of Holocaust messages from generation to generation.