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Second-Generation Holocaust Literature: Legacies of Survival and Perpetration (review)

oblivious” and that they “minimized survivors’ references to the past and rarely raised questions” (p. 133). Why did they fail to grasp the extent of the survivors’ transformation? Cohen analyzes the health professionals’ attitudes by examining the development of social work and psychiatry in America. She traces their roots from the early twentieth century to the mid-1940s, when the survivors arrived. In large measure, she blames the functional approach to social work—which saw the agency rather than the individual as the initiator of change—for the myopic view of survivors’ problems. The author also supports the view held by the influential psychiatrist Paul Friedman and others that the health professionals, like American Jews in general, felt guilty that they had been safe in America during the catastrophe in Europe. As a result of this guilt, they minimized the newcomers’ postwar trauma. In evaluating the history of the survivors in the United States, one can focus on their willingness to bring children into this world, their contributions to the communities in which they resided, and their economic self-sufficiency. One can also investigate the failure of many to make the transition, the degree of pathology they exhibited, their inability ever to be truly happy, and the ways in which their children were affected by the survivors’ legacy of trauma. The two approaches are equally valid. It is impossible to say with certainty what the dominant survivor experience was—or even if there was one. Given the diversity of survivors’ experiences during the Holocaust, generalizing about these people and their adjustment to life after the war is exceedingly difficult. Balance and sensitivity to nuance are essential to the study of this topic, and in this respect Beth Cohen has succeeded admirably. While she focuses on the challenges that the newcomers faced, she does not deny that many survivors achieved a modicum of success. Her important and engaging book represents a valuable contribution to the literature and should be read by scholars, health professionals, and the interested general reader.