Examining traumatic grief and loss among holocaust survivors

This article will reexamine Holocaust survivors' mourning from two aspects: the individual aspect and the collective one. Based on recent empirical studies on trauma and bereavement that suggest they coexist, especially when loss occurs under traumatic and violent circumstances (such as in the Holocaust), the concept of "traumatic bereavement" and the possible outcomes of complicated bereavement among survivors will be elaborated on. Works of two representatives of Holocaust survivors who were expected to adopt an Israeli identity and reject their 'old world' lifestyle through immigration, and who found alternative creative ways of expressing grief and pain through art and creativity, will be described.