THE POWER OF DISCOURSE AND ANALYSIS OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK

Oral History and Collective Memory 17Importance of Telling the Story of Trauma 25 Creating Narrative and Memory 32... Feldman, David Read Johnson, Marilyn Ollayos, and others, as it app

THE POWER OF DISCOURSE AND ANALYSIS OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree Master of Arts in English and Communication

Potsdam, New York

May 25, 2009

THE POWER OF DISCOURSE AND ANALYSIS OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS

IN BUFFALO, NEW YORK

By Marzena Ilianna WisniewskiHas been approved for the Department of English and Communication

PERMISSION TO COPY

I grant The State University of New York College at Potsdam the non-exclusive right

to use this work for the University’s own purposes and to make single copies of the work available to the public on a not-for-profit basis if copies are not otherwise available

Marzena Ilianna Wisniewski 5.25.2009

The following research was prepared as a study into Holocaust survivors in Buffalo, NY and their coping abilities post World War II The research, analysis, and conclusions made from this study made it possible to have a deeper understanding of victims’ lives during and post WWII Holocaust This included what their day to day was like during WWII, what the victims did to survive, what was life like

immediately after the War, and how have they been coping since

By having an honest discourse on the survivors’ experiences, I was able to better understand how each subject’s story combined different types of narratives, including chaos, restitution, and quest narratives as well as their own cultural,

autobiographical, and collective memories Furthermore, preserving the subjects past, the victim was able to provide future generations a history, understanding, and

education of their experiences, so their trauma was not in vain

The interviews were conducted, videotaped and transcribed They were also analyzed and compared to the theories of Arthur Frank, Maurice Halbwachs, Susan Feldman, Read Johnson, and Marilyn Ollayos amongst others This allowed for the subjects’ discourse to be used as a glimpse into the study of how communication preserves, educates, and heals victims

After the Holocaust, many survivors were left with little or no assistance in trying to cope with what just happened to them and their loved ones The

psychological damage to survivors was extreme, with few available affective studies and programs available in how to deal with that damage, including, depression,

anxiety or physical stress and trauma Research has proved that the management of these ailments can be supported by utilizing various methods to manage one’s

psychology By using communication as a management tool for psychological

ailments, we can see how survivors cope, interact, and impact themselves, friends, andstrangers

The results of this research contribute to discussions of the role of

communication in PTSD survivors Through conversations and writing, survivors may then attempt to heal their bouts with depression and anxiety, and at the same time preserve their autobiography The benefits of storytelling become twofold; the story teller addresses their trauma and the story teller educates, and becomes part of a process of collective memory for the passing on of these stories, and Holocaust

survivor motto: “Never Again” to future generation

Oral History and Collective Memory 17

Importance of Telling the Story of Trauma 25

Creating Narrative and Memory 32

Coding Transcripts to Clarify Facts 55

Imprisonment / Concentration Camp / Ghetto 75Communication 77

Life in the Camps 78Malnourishment & Starvation 82Degradation / Humiliation 83Death 84

Crematorium 86

Survival

Resourcefulness 88Faith, Hope, and Luck 89Liberation and Post War 91Immigration 93

Psychological and Health Issues 95 Thoughts about the Future 99

DISCUSSION

Tell and Witness 102

The Larger Need For This Project

The year 2005 marks the 60th anniversary of the end to World War II, the Holocaust, and the liberation of Auschwitz This does not mean that Holocausts saw their final end As recently as the first decade of the Millennia, Holocausts and

Genocide have been happening around the world, from Darfur to Rwanda, Bosnia, andCambodia Six decades after World War II, genocide haunts our global community Yet, today fewer and fewer survivors of World War II are able to give first person accounts of the horror they experienced during the Holocaust of WWII Part of this project’s goal is to hope to preserve history in the form of survivors’ testimonies Truly, this may be our only chance to do so.

In the past, survivors' testimonies have deepened the study of the Holocaust immensely When participants tell their own stories, they can animate history as no one else can Survivors have written memoirs, or described their experiences to students, filmmakers, and archivists This is one reason the subject has captured the public imagination across the world The stories presented here chronicle the

survivors’ experiences during the days of early occupation, in the Ghetto, and in concentration camps All of these stories have one thing in common: Nazi

mistreatment Most of the survivors were practically living corpses when the Allies liberated them We learn about all of this in history classes and through books like

The Diary of Anne Frank, or movies such as Schindler’s List, or the Pianist But we

rarely hear or learn about the psychological effects World War II had on its survivors

It should come as no surprise that many survivors suffered from depression or became mentally unstable during and after the war My research records these psychological effects as well as physical ones and seeks to learn how communication changed and helped heal the wounds of survivors

For the many that are fortunate enough to have survived the worst of times, another type of trauma would haunt their everyday life in the form of PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) These people have the greatest need to tell their personal

stories Arthur Frank calls them “narrative wrecks”: this phrase is a metaphor for a survivor being like a “shipwreck” that gets repaired in time through story telling Today, many survivors are nearly ninety years old, some are older, and many are quickly passing away Their stories offer firsthand knowledge into a very dark period

in human history They hold on to information that is very unique and rare, as they arethe remaining Holocaust survivors living with PTSD Because of such great time restraints, we have a very limited amount of time to record information relating to boththeir mental and physical being If the research is not done immediately, then in twenty years, these primary sources will not be available as a source of first hand discussion of atrocities that happened during this time period Future generations need

to be informed about what occurred during the Holocaust and they need to be aware ofthe genocide, torture, losses, and what people gained and lost from their personal struggles People should also know how survivors felt, how they suffered, and how they currently feel today By recording and listening to survivor testimonies we can hope to prevent future Holocaust and Genocide atrocities from being repeated Furtherbenefits to society and survivors may include: to sustain a survivors memory, which is crucial to identity; to get perspectives on the value of life; to help survivors connect with life and society; to become better individuals, interviewers, and recorders of history through practice, patience, and understanding

Many believe that since the Holocaust occurred during WWII and affected only older generations, there are no longer similar situations in today’s world But in this case, many may be wrong The Holocaust is a term used specifically for the extermination of the Jewish people in Nazi-controlled Europe, and is similar to

Genocide, which is analogous in meaning, except that it covers all other groups of

people In 1994, war and Genocide ravaged Rwanda Neighbors were slaughtering neighbors, and families were hiding in basements and attics in order to somehow survive the war together Just a few years earlier between 1992 and 1995, similar events were being broadcast on international television from the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or what is now present day Bosnia and Herzegovina There, people were forced to leave their homes, placed in concentration camps, and exposed to modern day genocide “The number of identified victims is currently at 97,207, and the recent research estimates the total number to be less than 110,000 killed (civilians and military),and 1.8 million displaced” (“Bosnia”) It is these types

of atrocities and hatred that Holocaust survivors are attempting to prevent from

happening again through storytelling and sharing of their knowledge The miraculous personal stories of the rescuers, the victims, and the survivors should be carried with

us and passed on to our descendants in order to build awareness of how terrible the Holocaust was, and how costly wars and Genocides are

For many people, it may be difficult to empathize with these intriguing stories Some may feel they are dream-like situations, and many times it may be difficult to put oneself in someone else’s traumatic situation Questioning Holocaust survivors directly is a difficult task, because there is more emotion involved than most realize

In one sense, it is truly impossible to understand the pain that dwells inside of them Being an empathetic listener is not for everyone, because some people do not want to deal with being emotionally disturbed; it may be too overwhelming At the beginning

of a project, one can seldom predict the conclusion, nor foresee the effort required Undertaking such a project requires perseverance, even a sense of mission Most Holocaust survivors had faith and an incredible will to survive It was my faith and

will that got me through the challenges in this project that gave me the ability to gain accurate results Conducting the interviews became my fulfillment of a significant mission

During my preparation to interview, I was unsure what emotions were going to

be opened; anything seemed possible I wanted to correct my ignorance, and know who my ancestry is, and where they come from, in order to understand and be part of this community I lost my family storytellers to death, and I was left with feeling guilt for not taking the time to hear their stories the many times I visited them in Poland Being younger, I never assumed this part of my culture would matter as much as it did once I grew to understand the importance of the Holocaust as part of my family history It was important for me to empathize with what survivors feel and think in order to create a strong and powerful connection with my ancestry There were things Iknew about them because of my upbringing in the Polish culture, but I was not secure

it was enough I traveled to Poland several times, visited concentration camps and spoke in Polish as a second generation American But once I met survivors and spoke with them about their experiences, I discovered my knowledge of the Holocaust was superficial There remained many historical facts I knew little about, which made it necessary for me to complete the incomplete picture I was raised with

My only remaining grandfather passed on the day I scheduled my first

interview I had a choice to either fly to Poland for a funeral or stay in New York and work on this project I knew that he was gone, and going to Poland would not teach

me anything new about his experiences during the Holocaust I gained strength in knowing that my grandfather would understand and be proud that I was to work on

this project After all, he was a witness to the Holocaust, and I was attempting to learn his own history and my own heritage that I never had the opportunity to learn before

It is said that the United States is a melting pot of nationalities Because of thisdiversity, I was able to better learn about Holocaust survivors who are Jewish and Catholic from Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, and other Eastern

European Countries now living in the USA I was also able to discover how the survivors migrated to the United States, and what the struggle was like for them As a Polish American, I learned about the Holocaust from watching films such as

Schindler’s List and The Pianist, textbooks, and during my visits to Majdanek,

Treblinka and Auschwitz concentration camps, as well as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C These experiences contributed to my

personal knowledge of the Holocaust However, it has always been difficult for me to accept the inhumane atrocities of the Holocaust This led me to conduct interviews andquestion Holocaust survivors in great detail Furthermore, the project itself became a pathway to solidifying my greater need to hear and share these personal stories

Globally, humanity is saturated with information, and occasionally this vast amount of knowledge can make us feel frustrated and overwhelmed because there are

so many questions and sometimes not enough answers At times, we do not know what information to rely on Our never-ending quest for answers keeps our horizons wide open and helps people to be socially and intellectually adaptive A historical discourse introduces people to better understanding the tragedy of genocide and learning about what once happened to human dignity Furthermore, no one will understand the full story of the Holocaust if we do not bring the stories out in the open.Although it is impossible to be familiar with all the stories, we can acknowledge this

terrible period in time through awareness, discovery, and by limiting similar atrocities

in the future

It is my belief that we must inform ourselves about the dangers of hatred in order to battle and prevent a corrupted future Education and speaking about the Holocaust is a powerful act done in the hope of preventing such historical situations from happening again Therefore it is important to educate and participate in programsaimed toward battling racism, discrimination, and other detrimental factors which can lead to hate and violence We should provide all necessary means to foster gatherings,conferences and discussions about these subjects Together, students along with academia can celebrate global diversity and peace for society, culture, and the human race

In Rhetorical Traditions & the Teaching of Writing, Brannon and Knoblauch

theorize about discourse as knowledge and knowledge as discourse They say that the things that we learn in life are endless, and every person is a teacher and student in some way or another, and is able to pass the knowledge over in order to provide their own definition from their own discovery (51-52) We need to remember that

reinventing knowledge for ourselves is an important part of every person’s culture The authors say that “discourse enacts the world: its knowledge is not about the world but is rather constitutive of the world, the substance of experience, an explanation of the self” (60) Therefore, this project’s main purpose is to make personal discoveries, formulate interpretations, achieve better knowledge, and educate future generations

Why Interview

Interviews step into an individual memory and they offer rich experience and knowledge for the interviewer Visiting concentration camps and Holocaust survivors was another form of direct experience that complemented this project In my opinion, these sites are limited if they stand on their own, but “brought to life” by direct

knowledge of survivor testimony

By taking time to interview and listen to the survivors’ unique stories, one can learn about their experiences But, the victim’s strength that enabled them to survive is not fully comprehended by just interviewing; it is one way to better understand what happened to the individuals Recording and transcribing interviews allowed me to have

my work fixed and later interpreted This method allowed me to go back and reflect upon what was discussed

The methods that were used in this project include visiting individual homes, interviewing, videotaping, transcribing, photographing, and being able to emotionally adapt to the facts These methods produced significant emotional challenges,

especially when witnessing and responding to each interviewee’s stories and emotions

Interviews with six people who survived the Holocaust are the main focus of this project The interview subjects are: Max Pohl and his wife Rose Pohl; Joe Poslinski; Steven Szymura; Stanley Blake; and Dr Phillip, who requested I use this pseudonym instead of his real name They shared their stories with me about their life during early Nazi occupation of Poland, life in the concentration camps, their struggles, humiliation, pain, hunger, the murder they witnessed, their physical, and psychological health, and howthey ultimately renewed their lives

Direct conversation gave me an important and rare opportunity to connect withHolocaust survivors I was able to listen to survivors’ personal stories, hear their

voices, feel them express what they feel or felt, and watch them cry This process provided an opportunity for me to have survivors convey their day to day feelings and

to hear their sorrows Overall, it is an experience in itself to be face to face with the survivor This type of experience makes you truly sympathize more with humanity, accept differences, appreciate the importance of a community, and understand the nature of war and its consequences

After my interview with Joe Poslinski, I thought about how the interview

affected me and why I felt saddened and emotionally exhausted I concluded that the way I felt was from the various nonverbal communication revealed to me The

survivors’ high or low tone of voice, facial expressions, temper, and anger were real facts that contributed to their truth Their nonverbal behaviors may represent their PostTraumatic Stress Disorders that prohibit them from living a peaceful and normal life

I believe the most comprehensive form of knowledge comes from personal interaction and experience Just as a trip to a new place affects the memory because onecan reflect on new experiences, so too interviewing becomes a specific way to learn about someone’s life as part of understanding and remembering events In order to have

a deeper understanding of the realities of the Holocaust, I felt the need to hear about the lives of these people firsthand This research project is well suited for face to face interviews because it is about how people adapt, and how Holocaust survivors view what happened to them and around them By telling us about a person’s life journey, oral history can provide a window on historical change; therefore, my interviews focused on the experiences of individual survivors, what they presently feel, how they felt as they went through different stages of life These historical stories are an

important part of the survivor’s life that is constantly changing They can then interpret

the past and make it understandable, believable, and relevant to today’s world.

The Beginning

The day I met Max and Rose Pohl at my graduation party in 2002, I briefly spoke to them about their survival in Auschwitz Max and Rose, like Joe, were very eager to offer and share their stories with me As we briefly spoke about their

experiences, they unexpectedly invited me to their home Max told me he would show

me everything, including pictures and evidence from Auschwitz I was very surprised that Max and Rose invited me to come to their home to interview I imagined that Holocaust survivors would keep their experiences to themselves as a private part of their lives, a subject matter they would not feel comfortable speaking about publicly

I met Joe at a New Year’s Eve Party in December 2004 While sitting next to Joe at the New Year’s dance, I was unable to separate myself from listening to the most moving stories I have heard in quite some time Joe’s story inspired me to select this topic as my thesis project and move forward in gathering information, because I wanted to learn and listen more about this subject I was curious to find out if other survivors think and feel similarly I thought of other survivors and it was not so much the history that I was interested to know about; rather, I was curious to know about their lives today, how they got through, how they feel today both physically and mentally, whether they still think about the Holocaust, what they feel, how they control the anxieties they may have, what got them past the trauma, and what remediesthey are using today

This is when I began to think about the coincidence of meeting Holocaust survivors Max, Rose, Joe, and Steven, and my relationships with my relatives I began

to question my background as a Polish-American and descendant of people who lived through German occupation of Poland I also began to question my “self” and try to understand the importance of being able to relate to one’s own ancestry, culture, and community My need was to watch, grasp and preserve the interviewees’ stories, and how they relate to my cultural background.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Oral History and Collective Memory

Although this is not necessarily a traditional oral history project, the field of

oral history helps to justify these wide ranging interviews Some theorists of collective

memory and oral history have argued that memory is formed and preserved

collectively In Heidelberg and Kostanz, Germany, work has been done on social memory Jan and Aleida Assman have “contradicted the notion of a biologically based memory; their main argument is that memory as well as culture, is not

biologically, but socially recorded” (Halbwachs 3) Hence, oral history is an importantfactor for collective memory, autobiographical, and cultural memories for now and generations to come

Michael Kearl says the defining events that we think are important are the incidents that will be remembered, and these form a kind of coagulant, around which other events are recalled, organized, and give meaning (7) Oral history provides us with the opportunity to get personal and to have another set of ideas through hands-on and direct conversation

A 1995 article by Kristina Ross, “Collective Memory,” explains that

“collective memory is the set of ideas, derived from literature, psychology, history, and cultural studies” (2) Oral history provides a way to share memories within communities a particular individual derives from, so that there is a place where anyone

is able to derive the knowledge of interest In History as an Art of Memory, Hutton

writes,

Collective memory is a collaborative network of social mores, values, and ideals that marks out the dimensions of our

imaginations according to attitudes of the social groups to which

we relate It is through the interconnections among these sharedimages that the social frameworks of our collective memory are

formed, and it is within such settings that individual memories must be situated if they are to survive (78)

Consequently, if oral history did not exist, then collective memory would not

as well, and educating others on the Holocaust would eventually fade without its advantages

Lawrence L Langer’s book Admitting the Holocaust says that,

The most important witness, in terms of archive of documents

he collected and buried, was the historian Emmanual Ringelblum After the war, ten cases and two milk cans of his records, diaries, journals, and historical commentary were discovered in the ruins of the Ghetto [Ringelblum’s work demonstrates] an invaluable legacy of a man who tirelessly inspired a staff of writers Abraham Lewin was one of them to preserve for history the narrative of their people’s ruin (33)

Ringelblum’s work of knowledge became more than words written down on

paper: it was his life’s work During his hiding in the Ghetto, he had an

opportunity to be smuggled out of the country by the Polish underground, but

he refused His choice was to continue writing in hiding until March 1944 At this time, the Gestapo discovered him and his family, all together they

executing thirty-five people (33)

Ringelblum accomplished the work of a hero, someone who stood his

ground He was someone who wanted others to know what occurred in the life

of someone who lived in inadequate conditions hiding from outside horrors,

trying to survive His testimonies play a large role in keeping the Holocaust

Peter Novick’s study, The Holocaust in American Life, demonstrates how

current concerns shape Holocaust memory His study reflects the importance of interviewing, regardless of what challenges it may bring He says, “To understand something historically is to be aware of its complexity, to have sufficient detachment

to see it from multiple perspectives, to accept the ambiguities of protagonists’ motives and behavior” (4) Consequently, emotional and complex challenges bring forth truthfulness Interviewing allows the listener to see how the situation affected the storyteller, the emotions of recalling a trauma, and express how one was affected by the Holocaust

Typically a collective memory, at least a significant collective memory, is understood to express some eternal or essential truthabout the group, usually tragic A memory, once established, comes to define that eternal truth, and along with it, an eternal identity, for the members of the group (Novick 4)

As a witness to these moments, I became affected forever In turn I hope that through

my research and interviewing, I will be able to contribute my experience to a broader cultural memory for the next generation

According to Maurice Halbwachs (1877-1945), we reconstruct our past into three types of memories that later become collective, autobiographical, and cultural memory Halbwachs was a major figure in the history of sociology He was a French philosopher and sociologist, known for developing the concept of collective memory His quest was to find out how we use our mental images of the present to reconstruct our past Halbwachs says that various groups of people have different collective memories: “recollection of the past is a composite of personal experience and acquiredlearning [and set knowledge and culture for the future]” (Hutton 84) In exchange, these different memories are formed through different modes of behavior, such as collecting memories through books, museums, or personal contact My research is not only influenced by these collective contexts, cultural studies, museums, and movies, but also by personal interviews (autobiographical memory), and the personal self, meaning knowledge I have acquired through education and experience

As an interviewer, it was important for me to ask how my interviews benefited the interviewee, the interviewer, and society as a whole Interviewing survivors establishes a bond with the interviewee, and face to face dialogue enhanced the

bonding experience It is important to establish a level of trust and comfort with the interviewee, so the survivor feels at ease to speak their mind and tell stories with the least amount of stress This is just one of the interview methods used to entice the interviewee to reveal locked up thoughts that will help educate future generations In this way the interviewee can add to all the collective memory stories, for all to share Halbwachs says “the past is a social construction mainly, if not entirely, shaped by the concerns of the present” (8) Today’s interpretations and historical representations are met by those who put the effort to dig further for new knowledge Research by

interviewing helps construct today’s meaning of the Holocaust, and hence helps society remember and have knowledge of the greatest tragedy of the 20th century.

Interviewing is not only beneficial to society but it is also valuable to survivors

in many ways Some survivors believe they are acting as a teacher, or expert on a subject and as a helper They feel it is crucial for future generations not to forget the past, as they hope for a positive outcome from their stories Interviewing benefits survivors by making them feel valuable to the community They feel they are

supporting the educational system by providing their stories to be published for reading, filmed for viewing, and recorded for listening Interviewing survivors also connects them to life, making them feel as though they have not been forgotten By being asked to interview, or to speak publicly of their experiences, they become teachers and role models In this way they are not only provided the opportunity for discourse, but also an opportunity to communicate openly This helps the survivor connect with society and helps sustain memory, which is crucial to identity and collective history

Interviewing Holocaust survivors allows an interviewer to practice his

interviewing skills, while becoming more versatile for more and newer survivors Theprocess allows the interviewer to learn things first hand that cannot be directly

observed, or to receive valuable perspectives on our own life privileges It is this special knowledge that can be empathized with and passed on, even if we can’t prevent atrocities from happening completely Interviews also educate and open the door for out of the box thoughts and interpretations, and provide answers to satisfy a curious mind, helping to justify facts that were otherwise only observed in museums,

books, television and the class room Halbwachs’ autobiographical memory is a

Memory of events that we have personally experienced in the past It may also serve to reinforce the bonds between

participants… It is always rooted in other people Only group members remember, and this memory nears extinction if they

do not get together over long periods of time… It can be stimulated in indirect ways through reading or listening or in commemoration, and festive occasions where people gather together to remember the deeds and accomplishments of long departed members of the group In this case, the past is stored and interpreted by social institutions (Coser 24)

Halbwachs defines Cultural memory as

Represented by objects which store meanings in a concentrated manner, meanings shared by a group of people who take them for granted Such objectivations can be texts, such as historical texts or poetry They can also be monuments, such as buildings

or statues, signals, memorials erected as reminders Secondly, cultural memory is embodied in regularly repeated and

repeatable practices, such as festivals, ceremonies, rites Third, cultural memory, just like individual memory, is linked to places To places where something significant, and unique… has taken place, or to places where a significant event is regularly replayed (1)

Scholars have asked “whether, in accord with Halbwachs contentions, autobiographical memories of directly experienced events do indeed have deeper

impact than events of which people have merely read or heard” (Coser 29) Generally speaking, direct experience that has been transcribed or witnessed firsthand is more powerful than second or third hand collective memory; therefore, Halbwachs’ concept

of collective autobiographical memory would be relevant for an oral project like this one, and would help refine this study in a more accurate and effective manner

In my oral research, each survivor’s story was unique, though similar in many ways, both verbally and nonverbally Each survivor spoke differently of individual experiences, but generally had similar group experiences as a whole Halbwachs confirms this observation by stating, “We cannot properly understand their relative strength and the ways in which they combine within individual thought, unless we connect the individual to the various groups of which he is simultaneously a member” (Coser 28) After conducting several interviews, I noticed patterns of semantical and story sequence irregularities that survivors have gone through To revive meaning, individual memory should be monitored and refreshed Through direct conversations, stories are reinvented, retold, and changed to include the previously omitted and to delete the previously included, therefore creating a regularly refreshed story but often changing details of history

According to Halbwachs, an interviewer’s direct experience and social

interaction prompts individuals to recall their own direct experience both in

autobiographical and cultural memory (Feichtinger 4-13) In this project,

autobiographical memory included my social framework My cultural memory on the other hand led me to further expand my knowledge of the Holocaust by discovering memorials, historical texts, and event commemorating the victims Interviewing Holocaust survivors was one way to bring back awareness of the Holocaust through

listening, videotaping, and transcribing interviews and seeing if what I have learned

would change the meaning of the Holocaust for me The data I collected through

books, museums, and interviews was not sufficient for me Hutton says that “for this reason, collective memory distorts the past in that with the passage of time a few personalities and events stand out in our recollections, and the rest are forgotten” (79), and so collective memory needs to be regained

Reintroducing myself to literature, data, interview notes, and video recordings brought solidity and great achievement Survivors are aware their memory is archived

by someone who wants to continue their main message, “Do Not Forget.” This achievement belongs to the survivor; it is their truth, their story, their commemoration

My achievement is hearing, witnessing, bringing out the truth and self awareness

As a Polish/American, and descendant of survivors of Nazi occupation, my goal was not to know everything, because this is impossible, but to understand the Holocaust better Achieving such an understanding would be a significant lesson, for

it would become part of my cultural and autobiographical memory Through my desire to understand my culture, my ancestry, my heritage, and my own history, I havetaken a step closer to self awareness, who I am as a person, and how I fit into this puzzle called humanity Furthermore, I believe that it was my duty to listen and transcribe the stories for research and history, not only because the stories are first hand and not diluted, but because it would be easier for me to empathize than for manyothers

Because I was missing pieces of my cultural memory, I searched by going to survivors’ homes and conducting interviews I wanted to explore the complexity of human life, but also to be reassured that these facts were sound Interviewing face to

face provided me the most effective experience, personalizing and expanding my knowledge exponentially

Importance of Telling the Story of Trauma

In the book Human Communication at Work, Joseph Devito writes that,

The most difficult of all communication qualities to achieve is empathy for an individual If we are able to empathize with people, we are in a better position to understand for example their motivations, and past experiences, their present feelings and attitudes, and their hopes and expectations for the future

(222)

In today’s busy world, it is difficult to find time, desire, and the commitment to listen

to accounts from elder generations about life altering events full of grief, trauma, struggle, and survival When one listens with empathy, emotions, inner thoughts, and listening time may consume a good portion of a person’s busy day Therefore, those who lack time for listening, lack a better understanding of these stories The following sections will consider the work of Arthur Frank, Susan C Feldman, David Read Johnson, Marilyn Ollayos, and others, as it applies to conversations with Holocaust survivors, and help explain the different ways we are not prepared to hear these stories Furthermore, the following research will show the importance of telling the story of self, and the importance of understanding and being well heard

For most, trauma is known to cause life changes Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos say “that trauma affects Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Some symptoms may include intrusive recollections of an event, recurrent dreams of an

event, feelings that the event is happening again, constant reminding of an event, difficulty sleeping, eating, depression, detachment from others, and guilt” (368) These particular behaviors were noticed during my interviews, suggesting to me that most of my interviewees may suffer from some trauma in a way that makes Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos and Frank’s work on PTSD relevant to this study Although Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos, as well as Arthur Frank, focused on writing and speaking with the ill (traumatized) as their main forms of research, it is important to note that video recording has provided us with another powerful tool for recording the experiences of those who may suffer from PTSD As an independent researcher, I created six individual video interviews consisting of substantial questions that help create a more accurate view of the interviewees and their behavior.

Frank’s study concentrates on medical patients with serious illnesses (trauma), while Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos studied war veterans The theory of storytelling and trauma developed by Feldman, Johnson, Ollayos and Frank, among others, asserts that storytelling is vital for victims of trauma, and that there is a need to hear the stories of trauma Their examples of patients and veterans explain why people with PTSD need to tell their stories, which also demonstrates why other war/conflict

survivors need to tell their stories as well In short, Feldman, Johnson, Ollayos and Frank argue that telling one’s story is central to healing and learning how to exist after

a terrifying experience has occurred Feldman, Johnson, Ollayos and Frank influencedthis project because they argue for the importance of telling stories, listening to the narratives, helping survivors heal their wounds, and creating an awareness of trauma

It is also a healing process for other individuals including friends of trauma victims, family, and others who are impacted in any way and choose to hear the stories Frank,

Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos talk about PTSD sufferers, and their need to tell stories

of personal trauma However, it is not easy for the story tellers to tell these accounts or

to preserve them, in part because the tellers are dislocated in many ways, including agegaps among different generations, cultural, and traditional differences, and also the accelerated rate of death among survivors

Frank’s, Feldman’s, Johnson’s, and Ollayos’ theories are relevant and can be applied to my conversations with Holocaust survivors, who endured extreme loss, degradation, and violence What this project has found from the interviewees is that they are witnesses, and in many cases victims of murder, rape, separation of their own family, as well as other families, and seeing things out of the ordinary, such as

cannibalism, and other inhumane images that turned the innocent into traumatized victims

Today, many survivors, including several of those I interviewed, have

nightmares, have visions, and hear sounds that remind them of the Holocaust Their trauma makes them question why they survived when friends and family did not Thisadjustment was and still is very challenging for many survivors, as is the ability to cope Their own traumatic experience, the loss of family, and friends, and relocating

to new environments, was obviously a tiring journey Many compensate for their losses by directing their emotionally charged energy onto others, or locking their emotions within

In the book, The Use of Writing in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Disorders,

Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos write an article titled, “The Use of Writing in the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Disorders.” They make a defense against death anxiety

[trauma] They continue by discussing how writing is important to regain health in theaftermath of trauma when a

[v]ictim often succumbs to a deadening or a numbing of experience PTSD victims [who surrender to trauma] remain unable to gather strength against the fear that all that they care about will disappear into this hole (366) The urge to counter the fleeting away of life exists in the character of the victim, and

is dealt with by ensuring that the memory of the trauma will not

be forgotten; that it will be memorialized, concretized, and preserved as a memory forever… In this context, writing serves

as a means to achieve this preservation of memory and self…

Recording on paper propels ambiguous and fleeting inner states into the consensual world, in a language that is not personal but collective Inner experience is translated into communal experience… The self that fears death[trauma] is given life…

To victims of trauma, the act of writing calls forth the realization, “I exist; I am not gone.” Once written, the piece acquires autonomy: it is no longer in the victim Writing is a birth (367)

Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos continue in explaining the effectiveness of writing in compensating for survivor guilt This is the feeling of guilt that a survivor gets when others have died, while he or she survived They claim that “writing about these dead comrades brings them to life The memorializing through writing gives them new

substance (life) and their lonely wandering in the survivor’s mind can come to a close”(367).

However the contrast according to Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos is that;

Explanation of personal guilt for atrocities, errors, or selfish acts

is not treated effectively through writing, for writing also concretizes these sins The survivor is left to agonize over the acts, now heightened in intensity by the power of the public expression Once on paper, shameful acts can become permanent accusations against the survivor In cases of personal guilt, more transient media—such as speaking, or enactments - are preferable, since the horrible event is acknowledged by the witness for a moment, and then it is gone

By surviving this moment, the victim pays his or her dues for the transgression (367)

Traumatized people want to look heroic to make themselves feel and look better It is

a part of their fear and illness (trauma), and their way to try to fight the anguish that has built inside them On the outside they might appear to be fine, or may say they arenot hurting, but internally they are not able to escape their wounds

It is therefore restitution narrative, as identified by Frank, that does not take survivors to a closer destination; instead they stand in one place According to Frank,

Ill (traumatized) people who tell restitution stories practice their own banality of heroism [Whether expected or not,] the

purpose that restitution narratives aim toward is twofold For the individual teller, the ending is a return to just before the

beginning: “good as new” or status quo ante For the culture that prefers restitution stories, this narrative affirms that breakdowns can be fixed (90)

This positive thinking may be one way the victim is able to heal his/her wound, but is

it considered to be sincere, or is it simply the easy way out? Moreover, “the restitutionstory, whether told by television commercials, sociology, or medicine, is the culturallypreferred narrative” (Frank 83) The restitution narrative will make life easier for people, because it is positive for the listener and an easy way out from admitting to problems that may take some time to heal or may never quite fade Frank says, “A mystery can only be faced up to; a puzzle admits solution The restitution is the prize for solving the puzzle, even if exactly how it is solved is not quite clear Without the restitution, the suffering would remain a mystery; and a troubling one” (80-81) So, does this restitution narrative solve the problem of trauma? Not necessarily

Restitution narrative, chaos narrative, and quest narrative are terms offered by Frank to represent the survivor’s testimony, and discussed in the next section of this thesis

These specific narrative types provide a way to see patterns of different reactions, behaviors and reasons

In The Wounded Storyteller, Arthur Frank presents “ill (traumatized) people as wounded storytellers” (xi) Frank’s use of semantics defines a link to behaviors in this

research project The personal connection of Holocaust survivors as Frank’s

“wounded storytellers” is based on their experiences before, during, and after their life during the Holocaust Frank focused on those who have a catastrophic illness

(trauma), Holocaust survivors can be linked to those who suffer trauma or serious illness He says, “Ill people have to learn ‘to think differently.’ They learn by hearingthemselves tell their stories, absorbing others’ reactions, and experiencing their stories

being shared” (1) Frank’s use of “ill” and “illness” ties to “trauma” and

“traumatized.” His use of “patient” ties to “victim.” “Patient” refers to people who are or who were “chronically ill.” His discussion with “patients” of PTSD, relate to

my interviews that were made with Holocaust “victims.” He discusses “patients” who are diagnosed “ill” with cancer or other illnesses, all of which have a need to tell their stories

Ultimately, Frank writes about the use of specific theories, concepts, and ideas

to speak about personal trauma in order to create memory, and to understand one’s identity These include restitution narratives, chaos narratives, and quest narratives Although Frank, Johnson, Feldman and Ollayos study various communication facets, and both have theories which justify the importance of telling, listening, and

discussing stories of trauma, it is Johnson, Feldman and Ollayos who explains how writing is important for veterans and survivors, because it helps them focus on their experiences and the ability to accept themselves, and to feel more accepted by society

By validating experiences through vocal and written means, we can begin to educate ourselves, and learn how to limit such atrocities

Creating Narrative and Memory

Frank, who presents the work of Roger Schank, a psychologist, emphasizes theimportance of the need for narrative He “explicitly links telling to memory: [he says]

We need to tell someone else a story that describes our experience because the process

of creating a story also creates the memory structure that will contain the gist of the story for the rest of our lives” (61)

Frank comments that, among seriously ill (traumatized) patients, “the call for stories is literal and immediate: the phone rings and people want to know what has happened… Stories of illness [trauma] have to be told to medical workers, health bureaucrats, employers and work associates, family and friends Whether ill

[traumatized] people want to tell stories or not, trauma calls for stories” (54) Those with PTSD may want to talk to someone about their problem, or they might not be willing to share their stories Frank emphasizes that these apparently ordinary stories are a way of redrawing maps and finding new destinations (53) Storytelling is a time

to reconnect with the self, to rebuild one’s present life; days, months, and years after initial trauma

David Carr, a philosopher in Frank’s book, also delineates the need to tell the story He points out that “even for the healthy person, the narrative coherence of events and actions is never simply a ‘given’ for us Rather it is a constant talk,

sometimes a struggle, and when it succeeds it is an achievement” (60) Schank and Carr describe the basic struggle to make the story out of difficult traumatic

experiences, to achieve “narrative coherence” and even “memory.” Thus, one’s narrative of trauma overlaps with one’s own identity, and construction of the narrative

is a form of therapy, healing and possibly recovery Through this therapy, no one can completely forget their memories, although they can be helped to feel better about themselves In fact, Frank describes this struggle to create narrative coherence as “a responsibility which no one else can finally lift entirely from the shoulders of the one who lives that life.” This struggle has two aspects: “one to live out or live up to a plan

or narrative; the other to construct or choose that narrative” (60) That is, the stories lighten, but do not completely eliminate the burden With regards to the stories that trauma provides, they are a form of therapy, education, and enlightenment for those who wonder, those who want to learn, and those who are driven to understand a distinctive part of history

Survivors have a need for us, as a society, to listen to and hear their stories One reason to listen to survivors with trauma is to understand their struggles and remember their stories, in hopes we can make better choices in the future Feldman, Johnson and Ollayos assert,

As Holocaust survivors have found ways to educate society, now Vietnam survivors, who were initially forbidden to tell their experiences, are opening up If important messages are forgotten about or even ignored, then history, education and culture is ignored as well The message must bear witness, mustundertake the burden of educating society (366)

Such education might, perhaps, contribute to the prevention of these events in the future Both Holocaust survivors and Vietnam veterans are victims of trauma who feel

isolated by their traumatic memories Victims with these particular symptoms doubt that there is anyone who will understand them, so they question why they should explain their horror, for whom, and for what purpose For example, Rose Pohl, a Holocaust survivor, was very specific and stern in telling me that no matter how much

a person listens to her, no one will be capable of comprehending or empathizing with her tragedy However, sociologist Kai Erikson acknowledges one woman survivor who says, “We wanted to survive so as to live one day after Hitler, in order to be capable to tell our story” (63) They do not think that people who listen to their storieswill truly understand their experiences, even if they say they are there to understand

As Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos state, many war veterans resist this task of retellingthis story because their anger at society is so deep “No one has ever cared to listen before, and nothing I can ever say has any value,” are both expressions that emerge before this process begins (366)

Trauma experiences can be an uncomfortable subject both for the speaker and for the listener, but at the same time they must be told so the storyteller’s voice is not silenced Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos argue that healing is always the most

difficult in the beginning, but tends to improve as time passes (385) Most survivors that this project includes signified slight awkwardness due to their emotions involved during the interviews and their fear of communicating these emotions As time

passed, they seemed to feel more comfortable sharing their inner thoughts and

welcoming the topic

Stories of trauma can be told in many ways that are unexpected Emotions can

be dramatic, peaceful, uncomfortable, anxious, stressful, and even dangerous This particular range of emotions is normal for people who have been psychologically

harmed In Frank’s keynote speech on “Illness and Narrative,” at Ritsumeikan

University, he states;

As professionals, we have an extraordinary privilege of being able to speak in public and publish We can use this privilege toamplify voices that would not otherwise be heard, thus

performing a public act of witness that can change the understanding of illness [trauma] in a society This change will not be rapid or widespread, but it will be real, nevertheless The possibility of telling new stories can, I believe, change the world In fact, I think that new stories are the principle way in which the world changes, for good and for bad (82-83)

Otherwise, how could we ever learn, for better or for worse? Ronald Dworkin

presents the term “narrative wreck” to explain that “stories of trauma are told in conditions of fatigue, uncertainty, sometimes pain, and always fear that turn the ill [traumatized]person into a ‘narrative wreck;’ that is, they can affect our ability to form

a secure self-identity through what is told or recounted” (Frank 54) Holocaust survivors fit this notion of “narrative wreck.” According to Dworkin, survivors are

“shipwrecked” through their own anxiety, fear of regaining their memories, and their emotions (Frank 54) They are also affected by their consistent nightmares of the Holocaust These memories affect the individual feelings, and cause them to hide from their horrific memories Although story telling is a form of reconciliation with the inner self and society and allows survivors to do repair work on their narrative wreck, it also becomes extremely difficult to go back into time by storytelling, for the

fear of opening old wounds that still might not have completely healed My

interviewees expressed similar feelings

This paper presents various examples of “narrative wreck.” Based on my perceptions of the interviewees’ body language and voice, I feel that every story told

by all six interviewees was told in pain, trauma, anxiety, anger, and sadness As survivors began to tell their stories, you could see the “narrative healing process at work.” Rose Pohl, was one interviewee who stated that by providing me with her story, it gave her a sense of relief She is an example of an individual who once was a

“narrative wreck,” but who has overcome being a “wreck” through writing and telling her stories repeatedly By talking and writing about life’s traumatic experiences, the individual identifies him/herself through collective memories

Frank writes, “Stories are uncomfortable, and their uncomfortable quality is all the more reason they have to be told Otherwise, the interrupted voice remains

silenced” (58) It is important to listen to the survivors stories no matter how

emotionally or intellectually challenging they may be, in order to remember and not forget what occurred during WWII

Frank’s work is helpful by stating that the traumatized have a need to address their stories in order to try and make sense of their own world In fact, he does

acknowledge that Holocaust survivors can never completely repair their narrative wreck He says, “What cannot be evaded in stories told by Holocaust witnesses is the hole in the narrative that cannot be filled in the story traces the edges of a wound that can only be told around Words suggest its rawness, but that wound is so much ofthe body, its insults, agonies, and losses, that words necessarily fail” (98)

Witnessing testimonies is a living experience, even if the story is not accurate word by word No matter what direction the story takes, what may hold truth, and what may not, what is most relevant is the experience of telling, listening, and what is being repaired

The power to tell is unmistakably important Healing the wound through

telling becomes a positive advantage for victims of the Holocaust and all people who are affected by trauma Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos write that “writing reasserts the sense of personal control over the trauma, elevating the victim into the role of

teacher/expert/helper” (368) This helps the victim feel he/she is not just a victim any longer but now feels part of society

Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos argue that victims of trauma need to tell their stories in order to find out who they are and overcome survivor’s guilt by sharing theirfeelings and emotions as victims Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos provide three steps for this healing: “involving (1) access to the traumatic material, (2) working through, and (3) integration into society” (369) Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos’ model is

relevant to the interviewing process with Holocaust survivors because it reflects the various stages during the course of the interviews Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos speak about the importance for traumatized victims to write their stories in order to help them heal their trauma I connect his theory of writing with my method of

interviewing which deals with the importance to tell personal stories in order for others

to learn from them as well as for victims to learn about themselves

The first stage takes a big step and allows the survivor to begin to tell his/her own story This allows the survivor to come out of his/her own shell, and speak about his/her

own experience thru responses to interview questions that were provided In order for the teller to get comfortable with the listener, this stage takes considerable time

The second step allows the person to speak about the experiences in order for others to witness the survivor’s thoughts as well as develop an understanding of their own identity as well as for others to identify the meaning behind being a survivor

Finally, the third stage includes being accepted by society This stage allows victims to feel accepted by society and to feel they are an important factor and their stories matter Like Frank, Feldman, Johnson, and Ollayos provide these models in hope that the victim will emotionally and socially heal his/her wound Family

members, friends, therapists and strangers are able to listen to these stories and begin

to understand what they never knew Ultimately, words express the wounded body which opens up to a new world and becomes accepted by those who were closed off

by this occurrence

During the interviews, Holocaust survivors reiterated that they are privileged when people take the time to hear their stories They fear these horrific events may occur again and, by telling, they hope their listeners can help to prevent it As BarbaraMyerhoff suggests, Holocaust survivors want to be heard more than anyone can

imagine They are people who have gone through an extremely difficult life They arewitnesses of the most dreadful occurrences in our planet history They are those who were separated from their children and loved ones, and they are the ones who did not have the chance to think twice about returning back home Some have never seen

their families and close friends again, while others saw their families and close friends die They have lived with those who have starved to death, and they have seen their own friends and family massacred in deadly shootings They are witnesses of

grenades that destroyed communities, and are witnesses of victims who were buried alive Indeed, these facts are mortifying and difficult to consider truthful, but the truth lies within the six primary sources interviewed in this paper

Narrative Types

As mentioned above, Frank uses three terms to label narratives of ill

(traumatized) patients and I adapt his terms to classify the narratives of Holocaust survivors These narrative types include restitution narrative, chaos narrative and quest narrative I found them to be useful terms that represent behaviors of Holocaust survivors These narrative types allowed me to notice patterns within the social environment in order to better make sense of the world and or create social-individual identity

The first, restitution narrative, represents its plot as a patient returns to a

previous state of health “[In restitution narrative], the patient is healthy and will stay healthy” (Frank 77) No one wants to be told they are sick or they have problems, therefore someone may want to make the other person feel better by telling the person

to take their medication and the feedback it will produce

This narrative dominates the stories of most people, particularly those who are recently ill [traumatized] and least often the chronically ill [traumatized] Anyone who is sick wants to be healthy again Moreover, contemporary culture treats health as the normal condition that people ought to have restored Thus, the ill person’s own desire for restitution is compounded by the