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Douillard, Andy. "PTSD and Holocaust Survivors." PTSD and Holocaust Survivors. N.p., 5 Dec.
2005. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
<http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/survivors/SurvivorPT
SD_Andy05z.htm>.
There are four main categories in which Holocaust survivors psychological states can be
put into. The first is the death imprint. This state of mentality results from experiencing
so much intense death that images are permanently burned into their minds. The second
category is survivors guilt. This causes the survivor to constantly question why they
survived and not others. The third is numbness. This describes, the lack of or inability to
experience emotions (Douillard). Numbness is a defense mechanism that prevents
memories, images, thoughts, or emotions from overwhelming the mind. The fourth
category is the search for meaning. A survivor who experiences this constantly questions
why this event happened. Why he or she were put in a concentration camp, and who
would have done such an evil thing.

Durst, Nathan. "Emotional Wounds That Never Heal." Emotional Wounds That Never Heal. N.p.,
Fall 2002. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://www.jcpa.org/phas/phas-durst-f02.htm>.
At this point in time, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder had not been invented yet. The
victims existed, but a medical name was not given to their trauma until 1980. In the
1960s, the name given to the increase in physical illness, higher mortality, and an
increase in emotional disturbances, experienced by Holocaust survivors, was PostConcentration Camp Syndrome.

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During this time period after the Holocaust, there were only two professional papers
regarding the emotional long-term effects. One was by P. Friedman, an American
sociologist. He proposed a psychological program to aid in the recovery of survivors. It
included psychological, economic, and social support for the survivors to integrate into
their new homeland, as most were displaced after liberation. Unfortunately, nobody
acted upon these ideas (Durst). It was at least 25 years until medical personnel and the
general public realized the needs of the survivors were more complex than estimated
(Durst).
According to the article, a mass denial of the population meant that people were intent to
look forward to rebuilding the future rather than repairing the past. Basically, worldwide
acceptance of the real psychological trauma that was needed to assist the survivors back
into normal life was not there. Although materials can be made up for, no amount of
rehabilitation can bring back a loved one. The world could have responded better and
immediately acted upon helping the Holocaust survivors, but there are some wounds that
never heal.

Furedi, Frank. "You Cant Inherit Holocaust Trauma." You Cant Inherit Holocaust Trauma. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016. <http://www.spiked-online.com/newsite/article/you-cant-inheritholocaust-trauma/17342#.VvKKZRFRHVI>.
Some claim the horrors of Holocaust survivors can be passed down to their children
through genetics. Studies have shown that there is a, growing trend for seeing
victimization and trauma as intergenerationally reproduced (Furedi). Basically, this

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study says the parents or grandparents direct experience of the Holocaust and its many
horrific, traumatizing events is seen as the cause of the emotional pain suffered by their
offspring.
However, this article says the, very idea of transmitting trauma makes little sense
(Furedi). Trauma is a reaction to a stressful event that one either has or has not directly
experienced. Instead of it being genetically transmitted from parent to child, the children
could be raised in a psychologically scarred environment that results in trauma.

"Oprah and Elie Wiesel at Auschwitz." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Nov. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2016.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FONfCP4NyQ4>.
In this video, we see and hear Wiesels personal reactions from his visit to Auschwitz.
One can specifically pull out similarities between Wiesel and the four categories of a
Holocaust survivors mental state outlined by the second source. The second source states
that one category is survivors guilt. In this interview with Oprah, Wiesel states that he
felt he was the wrong one to live. Out of so many lives taken, why was he left? He
questions this. Additionally, another category is the death imprint. Wiesel says, We lived
inside death. The third connection one can draw from Wiesels firsthand Holocaust
experience to the article that states the four main categories of a Holocaust survivors
psychological state is the search for meaning. Wiesel has written 47 books, but he feels as
though he hasnt even started yet. 47 books of his own life experience and he still
searching for meaning in the event. No answers, is what Wiesel says. No answers for
why this mass murder would happen.

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Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.
Night is an account of Elie Wiesels life during the Holocaust. At age 15, he and his
family were sent to a ghetto, then eventually herded into cattle cars and deported to
Birkenau. It was at this concentration camp that his mother and sister were sent to the gas
chambers and never seen again. Elie and his father were marched to Buna, a work camp.
At this point, Elie had lost faith in God. He had surgery on his foot and decided to
evacuate with the rest of the camp when the Russians were close to liberating it. The
camp was forced to run for more than 50 miles to Gleiwitz.
They were then herded into cattle cars without a roof. One hundred started the journey to
Buchenwald, but only 12 remained alive when they arrived. At this camp, Elies father
died. He recounted nothing until April 11, 1945, when the camp was liberated.
After experiencing such a horrific event, one is certainly going to view the world in a
different perspective. Elie Wiesel did get married and had a child. This child could not
have inherited the trauma Elie experienced because of the first articles research. Instead,
the child probably grew up in a scarred environment. Perhaps Elie had certain parenting
traits that differed from those parents who were not orphaned and lived through the
Holocaust. This would have caused his child to react differently to certain events.