Holocaust Survivors

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as well. The symptoms included an inability to work, and even at times to talk. The Jewish people fear that it may happen again. Also a fear of uniformed police officers because of their position of power became very common. There were also many feelings of guilt for having survived when others had not. "Why am I alive?" Why not my sister and brother...my whole family?" The survivors had thoughts of death, nightmares, panic attacks, and various other symptoms. Disinterest in life, people, and sometimes even in reality played a huge role in marital problems and suicide.

There are five main categories of Survivor syndrome. The first is the Death imprint, which is the idea of not only death itself, but of all forms of torture and gruesome images of death. For many survivors they can recall the smell of smoke and the voices of the tortured. Some survivors are trapped in time; mentally they are unable to escape the torture that they had witnessed. In other words, ...

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by psychologists as a "necessary psychological defense against overwhelming images." This defense is only good for a short time because after long term numbing the survivor can feel withdrawal and depression. Many survivors numbed themselves to all emotions and became insensitive to death. The fourth category is suspicion and paranoia. The survivor is always on guard watching out for another Holocaust to flare up and take hold. Consequently if in need of help, a survivor may not take the hand of someone there to help, in fear it may be a Nazi trick and a sign of personal weakness . The ridicule the survivors suffered made them paranoid and unable to place trust in any one. ...

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