What is the role of the third generation in Holocaust remembrance and reconciliation? This is the question I am left with after reading Eva Hoffman’s thought-provoking book After Such Knowledge: Memory, History and the Legacy of the Holocaust. Hoffman tells us that the second generation is the hinge generation “in which received, transferred knowledge of events is transmuted into history, or into myth.” But as the connection to the Shoah becomes more tenuous for the grandchildren of survivors, and is less of a living connection, what is the third generation’s responsibility to grapple with this history and extract meaning from it?
Some of us feel a stronger desire to connect with our past than others. When my students were asked whether they would choose to time travel to the past or the future, most of them chose the future. I choose the past, still wanting to go back and learn more about my family’s pre-Holocaust history, even after nearly two years spent wading through the shadows of the past in Germany. I know there are many others like me. They even have their own organizations such as Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors, which can be found on Facebook. There is also a growing body of literature on the third generation’s stories, reflections, and insights about the Shoah.
But despite the desire of many grandchildren of survivors to receive and interpret the memories and narratives of their parents and grandparents, my sense is that such sentiments are not the norm. Most of my cousins showed little interest in my own family research and discoveries. For those who do have interest, delving into such a distant past is not an easy undertaking. But as Hoffman stresses, it is our distance from the past that can be useful in developing perspectives and understandings that are not available to the victims. Far from indulging in victimhood, the third generation can still play an important role in reconciliation.
My hope is that the third generation will not be labeled the unhinged generation, the generation that has lost its connection to the past. Early in her book, Hoffman references an Israeli psychotherapist, Dina Wardi, who says that “in every survivor’s family, one child is chosen as a memorial candle….an instrument of commemoration, devotion, and mourning.” If this is the case for the second generation, I hope many of us who make up the third generation will continue to shine a light on our shared history in a way that will inform the present and benefit our future.
Hi Donna –
Thanks for sending this along. It’s an interesting question. I tried to place myself in the sampling but, despite the history of our family being tied to the holocaust, I am not a descendant of any of those who perished. As a result, I don’t consider the framework of your questioning to be applicable to me.
Reading your blog entry did, however rekindle some curiosity about the first person written history – as opposed to the artistic record of my Aunt Esther’s drawings and paintings with which I am more familiar.
The the first site below presents quite a poignant view of the history, and I thought you – and Georgette, if you want to forward it to her – would find it interesting. There are links, of course to much of her art, and most of it can be found on various sites with connecting with “A Living History” and her name, Esther Lurie (sometimes including her married name, Shapiro.) The second link takes you to much of her pictures. The two attached are the only two for which we have the originals on our wall.
Regards, Dan http://art.holocaust-education.net/explore.asp?langid=1&submenu=200&id=6 http://www.google.com/search?q=esther+lurie&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=7a8nUbrSL8XBqQGN8YGADw&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1081&bih=559
“…to *many* of her pictures…”
Greetings from Versailles, France. One of my readers sent me a note the other day saying that I should have a look at your blog. I came right over and am very pleased that I did. I wish you all the best with your re-entry into the US. and I wanted to thank you for mentioning this work by Eva Hoffman. I am a huge fan of hers – Lost in Translation was one of THE books that inspired me to write about my own immigrant journey and my daughter who is a dual French/US read it recently and was just blown away. She says so many things in that book that deeply resonate with me and my children. I’m sure that After Such Knowledge will be equally rich. All the best to you.