The Aging of Holocaust Survivors

Article submitted by Audrey Cantor, Holocaust Community Services/Jewish Family and Community Service.
For more information, she can be reached at 847-568-5151.

Aging brings many changes to one's life. As daily activities decrease, time to think and reflect increases. Those who have experienced the traumas of the Holocaust are faced with painful memories of the prolonged horrors of genocide during which most survivors witnessed - in varying degrees - terror, fear, prolonged starvation, abuse and/or experimentation, confinement and daily exposure to death and human carnage.

Their past is so consumed with this horrifying ordeal that many survivors continue to struggle to come to terms with the Holocaust until their final days. Yet - even in the face of such challenges - these individuals demonstrate resilience, strength and adaptability in spite of the traumas they endured.

They have achieved successful careers and raised families. Single mindedly and persistently they sought higher education, social and political status, fame or wealth. While the Holocaust may have been the defining traumatic experience of their lives, it is their individual strengths and histories that must always be honored.

Others experienced more difficulties. Some survivors have never recovered from the massive assaults to their bodies and souls and endure both emotional and physical after effects. They may respond traumatically to changes that occur as a result of aging which tend to aggravate their post traumatic symptoms.

Illness, hospitalization, or institutionalization may reawaken Holocaust-related fears and feelings of helplessness. In the ghettos and camps, health had a particular significance as illness usually meant an automatic death sentence. Survivors may see doctors as Nazis. They may feel that they are being tested and operated on as though they were undergoing Nazi experiments. A shower may look like a gas chamber, an elevator like a deportation train. However, what may be a trigger for one individual may not cause another survivor any difficulty at all.

It is now sixty years after the War and Holocaust survivors have a unique place in history. They allow us to witness the indefinable potential of the human spirit and its resilient nature. May we continue to mourn their losses, celebrate their triumphs and cherish their legacy.