Myra Giberovitch is the author of Recovering from Genocidal Trauma: An Information and Practice Guide for Working with Holocaust Survivors. Recovering from Genocidal Trauma is a comprehensive guide to understanding Holocaust survivors and responding to their needs. In it, Myra Giberovitch documents her twenty-five years of working with Holocaust survivors as a professional social worker, researcher, educator, community leader, and daughter of Auschwitz survivors.
How did you become interested in your subject?
I knew working with Holocaust survivors was my calling when I became a social work intern and began to recognize survivors’ unique needs. My life’s work has its beginnings in early childhood. I’m a daughter of survivor parents, both from the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz. My mother was the only survivor from an extended family of 80 members. At that time, they lived in a displaced persons camp in Bavaria, Germany, just after the war. I became the first child born in my parents’ circle of friends. Fortunately, I have a few baby pictures from this period, something very rare. I am dressed impeccably in little dresses hand-made by a dressmaker in the DP camp. In some pictures, I hold a doll and in others, I stand in a rattan baby carriage. My parents often conveyed the satisfaction they, and their friends, derived from seeing an abundance of baby carriages in the camp. My birth transformed my parents’ lives and brought them joy because I symbolized their survival and hope for the future. Helping people change and making a positive difference continues to inspire my passion today.
How did you become involved in your area of practice?
I began working with Holocaust survivors in the mid 80’s during my McGill social work internship. My caseload of socially isolated older adults included a few survivors. When visiting their homes to conduct bio-psychosocial assessments, I discovered that survivors wanted to talk about their war experiences. Many times I was unable to complete a service plan because I found it difficult to shift their attention back to the assessment. Most thanked me, however, for listening to them and said they felt some relief from their pain by talking about their experiences.
I brought these observations to my supervisor and discovered my colleagues were witnessing the same behavior. Many Holocaust survivors came to the agency because they were lonely and had difficulties with daily living activities. We quickly realized, however, these survivors really wanted to talk about their wartime past. I found this need more pronounced among socially isolated survivors who lacked cognitive, emotional, and social stimulation. I was amazed that many survivors in the community were still preoccupied with their wartime experiences, forty years after the end of the Holocaust. That’s when I began to understand that survivors needed to be heard and validated, and the system was not responsive. I began by organizing a specialized group for Holocaust survivors.
I continued documenting the issues survivors brought to my attention. I listened and took their concerns seriously, and conducted my own research by consulting with other survivors and colleagues. When I began to realize there were no organized social services for survivors in Montreal, I wanted to change things. I created a vision, developed an understanding of what was needed, and began a process to make it happen. Most of the services discussed in my book started by listening directly to survivors.
What inspired you to write this book?
It began with requests from colleagues, students, and survivors to document my professional, volunteer and personal experiences with Holocaust survivors and their families. I began to notice that many service providers lacked knowledge about survivors’ history and diversity, psychosocial functioning, the impact of aging on traumatic memory, and specialized survivor-assistance resources. In my research, I found books and articles about the Holocaust, the theory and pathology of severe trauma, the psychosocial effects of such experiences, and clinical treatment of associated symptoms; but not much information about survivors’ adaptation and resilience, or programs focused on recovery.
I became motivated to fill this information gap in the literature by writing a practice guide for communities, health care providers, survivors, academics and students. I wanted to broaden the perception of survivors by focusing on their adaptive coping behaviors and achievements that co-exist with the vulnerabilities related to their war experiences and present day challenges.
During the editing process I began to realize my knowledge and experience might serve a wider audience. I believe the interventions and service models described in my book can be replicated and adapted for trauma victims of other mass atrocities. Unfortunately, genocide and war did not end with the Holocaust. Mass murders took place in Rwanda and Bosnia in the 1990’s, and continue in Darfur and other parts of the world. Those of us who work with Holocaust survivors have learned important ways of responding to individuals traumatized and displaced by genocide and war. I believe it’s important that we share our knowledge with other communities.
What do you wish other people knew about your area of practice?
I would like more people to develop a balanced perception of mass atrocity survivors. Increased awareness can provide a fresh perspective when understanding and interacting with survivors. I follow a strengths-based philosophy with both individuals and groups. It provides me with a foundation for my practice and workshops. Listening to survivors and learning from them gives me valuable insights that influence my approach when responding to their needs. Strengths-based practice is person-centered and includes concepts like: personal attributes and capabilities, empowerment, healing, and recovery. It asserts that human beings are resilient and continue to learn, grow and change throughout their lives, despite trauma and hardships. Conventional perceptions of Holocaust survivors, as reflected in the mental health literature, focus on their pathology and deficits. Such perceptions often lead to assumptions that survivors are permanently scarred and cannot recover. A strengths perspective requires a shift in thinking. I view survivors, not as debilitated victims, but as competent, adaptive, resourceful, and resilient individuals who cope as best they can with their Holocaust experiences and present-day challenges. This does not mean that I am unaware of, or deny, their suffering. I recognize many survivors suffer from post-traumatic symptoms such as anxiety, depression, recurring traumatic memories, and a variety of medical conditions. To deny that these symptoms exist is to deny the atrocities perpetrated against them. However, to focus exclusively on these pathological aspects causes generalizations which do not acknowledge their adaptive coping abilities and resilience.
What do you find most interesting about your area of practice?
I continue to be inspired by the survivors in my personal and professional life. They are older now, and some are frailer, but they continue to persevere and deal with their present-day challenges. Many accept their present situation, no matter how difficult. They have a tenacious survival instinct manifested by a determination to recover when hospitalized or ill. They appreciate the simple pleasures of life such as family, friends, their health, and a refrigerator filled with food. They take nothing for granted and value their relationships. These are important lessons for us all.
What’s the most surprising thing you discovered during the course of your research?
I discovered the practice implications of recent developments in neuroscience research. Modern science shows that social connections and empathic listening skills can actually generate new synaptic connections in the brain that contribute to well-being. As a social worker, I understand the importance of establishing a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship with individuals who are dealing with difficult challenges. When I listen empathically, it helps calm their emotional arousal. Most of the time survivors thank me for listening to them because they say few people do. I find that empathic listening skills are at times more important than the type of therapeutic approach I use. Now neuroscience research confirms the effectiveness of these simple, yet curative, therapeutic interventions.
Did you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
They say that it takes a village to raise a child. I also learned that it takes a village to write a book and get it published. When I wrote the original manual I intended to self-publish it and distribute it to my colleagues and students. My partner and editor, Raymond Barry, spent many hours restructuring and editing the original manuscript, transforming it from a professional manual to a book of general interest for a broader audience. Myriam Denov encouraged me to submit it for publication to a university press after she saw me teach parts of it in her classes at McGill. I eventually decided to submit a proposal to the University of Toronto Press. At this time, however, the manuscript was still in draft form and not yet ready for submission. Virgil Duff encouraged me to complete it and said that UTP would take it under formal review when it was ready. Colleagues and friends contributed to the ongoing process with their comments on early chapter drafts. After Mr. Duff’s retirement, I was fortunate to work with Doug Richmond and Eric Carlson, my former and present acquisitions editors at UTP, who provided me with guidance and advice in supporting this project. Eric’s strong support and his appreciation of the sensitivities surrounding this topic have helped make this book a reality. The anonymous peer reviewers provided constructive feedback and recommended revisions that improved the scholarship of my original manuscript. Anne Laughlin, managing editor, oversaw the final production phase and hired Curtis Fahey whose meticulous copyediting brought this book to an even higher level still. Natalie Nell captured the essence of this book with her skillful indexing. I am grateful to everyone who contributed their time, talent and energy to this project.
What are your current/future projects?
I am sharing my knowledge and experience to guide others who live and work with survivors of mass atrocities.
