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Caroline Miller

Professor Dunklin

1104- UWRT

19 November 2018

EIP Holocaust Survivors

During World War II, a genocide in which 6 million people were murdered by Nazi’s,

was known as the holocaust. Adolf hitler rose to power in 1933 and the government had passed

laws to exclude jews from civil society. There were over 42,000 camps, ghettos, and other

detention sites that they were taken to. (Holocaust museum learning center) This being said those

who had survived, were lucky to get through such a physically challenging ordeal. Most

survivors were determined to vacate Europe and start their new lives in Israel or the United

States. (Holocaust museum learning center).

After being put through such traumatizing events, mental health can be greatly affected

in a negative way. Post traumatic stress disorder is developed after experiencing something so

horrific. Depression is “feelings of severe despondency and dejection”. Both of these things are

highly likely to be developed by survivors after going though what they went through. In this

debate over survivors battling ptsd and depression, I’m persuaded that the most important thing

to do is give them life long treatment. The main purpose of my essay on holocaust survivors

battling ptsd and depression is to explore what kind of treatment they receive. In particular, I will

consider the questions raised by trauma as well as psychological treatment and effects.
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People that persevered through the struggles of the holocaust faced gruesome

experiences. This includes being put through concentration camps, being starved, beaten, and

being put to work. They typically “worked 12 hours a day with hard physical work, clothed in

rags, eating too little and always living under the risk of corporal punishment”. “In a

concentration camp meant inhuman forced labour, brutal mistreatment, hunger, disease, and

random executions.” (Shoah, pg 1) Families were separated from their loved ones with most

never being able to see them again. “The inmates usually lived in overcrowded barracks and

slept in bunk beds”.(Shoah, pg 1) People witnessed death, destruction, and horror. All these

factors causes trauma and can lead to Post traumatic stress disorder and depression. Every

survivor dealt with different situations, some being worse than others, which can have the

outcome of psychological effects on the brain.

In the article “Holocaust survivors in long-term care” by Allen Glicksman, it discusses

“Study goals” (pg. 178), “Methods” (Glicksman, pg. 179), “data collection” (Glicksman, pg.

181), “results” (Glicksman, pg. 182), and “explaining mental health differences” (Glicksman, pg.

182) that survivors had. They had interviewed survivors and examined their experiences with

and without long term care and trauma. They identified specific consequences of being a

Holocaust survivor for persons in long term care settings, and made general statements about the

ways in which they can identify such consequences for other survivors of similar traumas

(Glicksman, Page 187). After reading this article, it is clear that there are many studies on

specific people and how they are treated for trauma. Long term care is very important for treating

victims battling mental illnesses.

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According to a survey released by a leading advocacy group, a majority of Israel's

Holocaust survivors suffer from depression, sleeping disorders or other emotional distress.

(NBCNews.com) “Two-thirds of Israel's 220,000 survivors experience some form of distress”.

This is an absurd amount of people struggling all from horrendous experiences. With this being

said, numerous of people are going to be in need of some sort of care to help better them. The

“Center for Research on Aging of the Israeli Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute”, had a study to

collect comprehensive government data on all the survivors. They had sampled “400 survivors”

who receive home care showing that half were battling depression and “80 percent” were dealing

with sleep disorders. Most people had been overall permanently scarred.

Holocaust survivors offer a unique opportunity to access the course of PTSD. “Through

the life cycle of people who have been subjected to extreme and massive psychic trauma in their

youth". The majority of holocaust survivors still would identify their experiences as the “most

significant stressors” of their lives. (Yoram Barak) With that being said, they are continuing to

deal with it to this day. Post traumatic stress disorder is very common and also has a very long

history of research. Most survivors are now elderly, but are living with the same mental

problems. Psychiatrists and other health professionals can ease the voicing of the suffering of

people who spent their lives in the persistent shadows of the Holocaust (Yoram Barak). Many

studies have focused on the long-term consequences of this massive traumatization. (Yoram

Barak,). Most people end up spending the majority of their lives in long-stay psychiatric

institutions or being hospitalized. At the end of WWII, “nearly 500 000 Jews survived the

Holocaust”(Yoram Barak) Survivors who moved to Israel were chronically hospitalized in

psychiatric hospitals. “The Abarbanel Mental Health Center is Israel's largest academic
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psychiatric center”.(Yoram Barak) They had interviewed the survivors and created them as

subjects and “91.8%” of their patients were diagnosed with PTSD. This was more than 50 years

after the holocaust itself. This article has shown that “the comorbidity of psychosis and PTSD in

Holocaust survivors leads to a lifelong debilitating illness”. (Yoram Barak) This proves that the

trauma after this genocide creates a life long burdon.

There are so many stories of survivors that are battling psychological problems to this

day. Yoka Verdoner a survivor from the holocaust, tells her story about how being affected by

this will forever result in mental issues. “In later life, I was never able to really settle down. I

lived in different countries and was successful in work, but never able to form lasting

relationships with partners. I never married. I almost forgot to mention my own anxiety and

depression, and my many years in psychotherapy.” (Yoka Verdoner) This is her talking about

what life is like today and the pain she deals with. Psychotherapy is very affective and has helped

so many survivors battle these deadly diseases but needs to be used over years, even for the rest

of their life. She also discusses the impact of her family members and how they continue to

suffer as well. Survivors will need to be put through life long treatment in order to stop the pain

they are going through.

There are several options to find treatments for PTSD involving many different types of

therapy. PTSD therapy can have up to three outcomes including “improve your symptoms, teach

you skills to deal with it and to restore your self-esteem.” (Smitha Bhandari, pg 1) Another

source of therapy can be Cognitive Processing Therapy. This is a “12-week course of treatment,

with weekly sessions of 60-90 minutes.” (Smitha Bhandari, pg 1) You will go in and discuss the

traumatic event and your therapist will help work it out with you. Prolonged exposure therapy
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involves “8 to 15 sessions, usually 90 minutes each.” This can teach you breathing techniques

and discuss the problems that you have been avoiding to help feel better. “Fluoxetine (Prozac),

Paroxetine (Paxil), Sertraline (Zoloft), Venlafaxine (Effexor)” (Smitha Bhandari, pg 2) are all

medications that patients can get on for post traumatic stress disorder. Even the ones listed are

only just a handful of what people will take since everyone is different. This results in survivors

having to be on it for the rest of their lives making it difficult but worth it.

Depression can result from Post traumatic stress disorder and is very common in

holocaust survivors as well. There are millions of anti-deprecients that people can get on to help

treat it but therapy is much well needed as well. Luckily, there are many different types of

therapy that can be used. “Electroconvulsive Therapy is an effective treatment for patients who

do not respond to drug therapy, are psychotic, or are suicidal or dangerous to themselves”

(ADAA's, pg 1). As talked about before, psychotherapy is very effective in the treatment of

depression. Lastly interpersonal therapy is for people with major depression. This all leads to

survivors battling this disease forever and putting in a lot of work to treat themselves.

After a genocide so long and heartbreaking, many people encounter lifelong tragic

obstacles dealing with mental disorders. Most need to be treated till this day while holding the

horrible memories in their heads. There are endless amounts of lessons to be learned from the

Holocaust with so many inspiring stories. An important thing to take in from this is that people

who went through this need a lot of time for recovery. Survivors are extremely strong and can

fight any battle. This includes battling post traumatic stress disorder and depression. It can be

treated, but it may take the rest of their precious lives. Treatment can be never-ending but much

needed for the people who went through this traumatizing event.
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Holocaust Survivors:Work cited

Allen Glicksman (2017) Holocaust survivors in long-term care, Journal of Religion,

Spirituality & Aging, 29:2-3, 177-190, DOI: 10.1080/15528030.2017.1299069

Barak, Y and H Szor. “Lifelong posttraumatic stress disorder: evidence from aging

Holocaust survivors” Dialogues in clinical neuroscience vol. 2,1 (2000): 57-62.

“Depression Treatment and Management.” Anxiety and Depression Association of

America, ADAA, adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/depression-treatment-management.

Holocaust | Concentration Camps,

www.projetaladin.org/holocaust/en/history-of-the-holocaust-shoah/the-killing-machine/concentr

ation-camps.html​.

“Holocaust History.” Holocaust Museum & Learning Center,

hmlc.org/holocaust-history/?gclid=CjwKCAiAuMTfBRAcEiwAV4SDkaXdMUZNEkXtM2xdT

YyjmaoNKGSw1DaZgBs8mBB6-Pi1pdzJBlO5ZxoC7IkQAvD_BwE.

“Most Holocaust Survivors Battle Depression.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News

Group, 26 Jan. 2010,

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www.nbcnews.com/id/35082451/ns/health-mental_health/t/most-holocaust-survivors-battle-depr

ession/#.W84lEP5KjBI (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

Verdoner, Yoka. “Nazis Separated Me from My Parents as a Child. The Trauma Lasts a

Lifetime | Yoka Verdoner.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 June 2018,

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/18/separation-children-parents-families-us-bord

er-trump

 
“What Are the Treatments for PTSD?” WebMD, WebMD,

www.webmd.com/mental-health/what-are-treatments-for-posttraumatic-stress-disorder#3.
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