From Psychologists to Rabbis – rethinking the Holocaust

Summary

Psycho-Trauma of the Hidden Children. Psychological Aftermaths of the Anti-Semitic Persecutions Among the Jewish Hidden Children in France during WW II.

Psycho-trauma refers to two realities: on the one hand an objective event and on the other hand a psychological state. In order to understand what is a trauma and to be able to cure traumatized patients, it is necessary to understand the traumatizing event in its historical, sociological, political and cultural aspects. When treating hidden children, it is important to know who were these hidden children during WWII, what was their social and cultural background, who were their parents and how exactly did they overcome the different life ruptures during that period. The evaluation of more than 15 years of work treating Shoah survivors and their families shows that taking into account the Jewish identity of the victims as an essential fact for the therapy offers a better chance for treatment to be effective. The author in this article gives six major technical propositions for a better understanding and treatment of that population.

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Nathalie Zajde

Nathalie Zadje is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Paris 8 Saint-Denis. She is in charge of research and clinical studies at the Centre Georges Devereux and was a visiting researcher at the Centre de recherche français à Jerusalem (2007-2009). An expert in psychic trauma, she developed in France the first clinical research tools for survivors and descendants of Holocaust victims in 1990. She has authored two standard reference works: “Enfants de survivants” (1993), “Guérir de la Shoah” (2005) published by Odile Jacob. In the course of her stay, in 2003-2004, in the region of the Great Lakes (Burundi and Rwanda), she established and operated a university research center on the clinical psychology of trauma at the University of Burundi in Bujumbura. In November 2005, she established, with Dr. Ulman, at Beer Yaacov psychiatric hospital (south Tel Aviv), an ethno-psychiatric clinic for patients of Ethiopian origin – presently supported by the Israeli government in the framework of a research program. Following the massacres of September 28, 2009 in Guinea, she established and facilitated, in Conakry, a psycho-social unit specializing in the treatment of survivors and female victims of rape.

Her main research themes are: ethno-psychiatry; mass and individual trauma (genocide, war, natural catastrophes, domestic violence); psychotherapeutic tools; treatment for social and cultural minorities; psycho-politics.


Psycho-Trauma of the Hidden Children. Psychological Aftermaths of the Anti-Semitic Persecutions Among the Jewish Hidden Children in France during WW II.


by Nathalie Zajde
*Bulletin du Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem*, 17 \| 2006 : année 2006, p. 160-174
Summary Psycho-Trauma of the Hidden Children. Psychological Aftermaths of the Anti-Semitic Persecutions Among the Jewish Hidden Children in France during WW II. Psycho-trauma refers to two realities: on the one hand an objective event and on the other hand a psychological state. In order to understand what is a trauma and to be able to cure traumatized patients, it is necessary to understand the traumatizing event in its historical, sociological, political and cultural aspects. When treating hidden children, it is important to know who were these hidden children during WWII, what was their social and cultural background, who were their parents and how exactly did they overcome the different life ruptures during that period. The evaluation of more than 15 years of work treating Shoah survivors and their families shows that taking into account the Jewish identity of the victims as an essential fact for the therapy offers a better chance for treatment to be effective. The author in this article gives six major technical propositions for a better understanding and treatment of that population. to the full text —> Nathalie Zajde Nathalie Zadje is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Paris 8 Saint-Denis. She is in charge of research and clinical studies at the Centre Georges Devereux and was a visiting researcher at the Centre de recherche français à Jerusalem (2007-2009). An expert in psychic trauma, she developed in France the first clinical research tools for survivors and descendants of Holocaust victims in 1990. She has authored two standard reference works: “Enfants de survivants” (1993), “Guérir de la Shoah” (2005) published by Odile Jacob. In the course of her stay, in 2003-2004, in the region of the Great Lakes (Burundi and Rwanda), she established and operated a university research center on the clinical psychology of trauma at the University of Burundi in Bujumbura. In November 2005, she established, with Dr. Ulman, at Beer Yaacov psychiatric hospital (south Tel Aviv), an ethno-psychiatric clinic for patients of Ethiopian origin – presently supported by the Israeli government in the framework of a research program. Following the massacres of September 28, 2009 in Guinea, she established and facilitated, in Conakry, a psycho-social unit specializing in the treatment of survivors and female victims of rape. Her main research themes are: ethno-psychiatry; mass and individual trauma (genocide, war, natural catastrophes, domestic violence); psychotherapeutic tools; treatment for social and cultural minorities; psycho-politics.
Titre original : Le traumatisme des enfants cachés. Conséquences psychologiques du vécu de persécution antisémite chez les enfants juifs cachés en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale Bulletin du Centre de recherche français de Jérusalem 17 \| 2006 : année 2006, http://bcrfj.revues.org/index199.html