Extreme Trauma and Its Transmission

Abstract

Using the example of the Holocaust, I draw upon my own research in the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, as well as the research of others on second-generation survivors, to ask if and how trauma is transmitted from one generation to another. This chapter concludes that trauma is transmitted in much the same way neuroses or other mental problems are. Attachment theory is the way the transmission is explained, focusing on the child's need to share his or her parents' experiences, even bad ones. Art Spiegelman's Maus ``comic books'' are shown to be an excellent account of how intergenerational trauma works.