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Ms. Bowles
US
Posts: 84

Questions to Consider:


How does generational trauma impact the children of Holocaust survivors, like Spiegelman? How does the weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors as well as communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today? Is it possible to move beyond generational trauma, or is it better to live with and acknowledge it? (Please note you can also discuss generational trauma from other wars, conflicts or genocides in addition to what you notice in Maus).


Word Count Requirement: 350-500 words



Sources to Reference:


Please refer to the ideas, either using a description, quote or paraphrasing, from Maus I or II in addition to the other source listed here in your response.


Maus I (Spiegelman,1986)


Maus II (Spiegelman,1991)


Intergenerational transmission of trauma in Spiegelman's Maus (Stanislav, 2013)



Rubric to Review: LTQ Rubric
raybradbury12
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 11

Art Spiegelman’s Maus shows how trauma doesn’t end with those who directly experienced it, but they continue to shape the lives of their children and families through generational trauma. As the son of Holocaust survivors, Spiegelman grows up in the shadow of events he didn’t directly witness, but still deeply feels in aspects of his life and his relationship with his father. The generational trauma inherited from his parents, and especially Vladek, shapes Art’s own identity, his relationship with his parents and his sense of guilt and emotional distance. This demonstrates how trauma can be passed down not just through stories but through families' behaviors and dynamics.

Throughout Maus 1 and Maus II, Vladek’s survival strategies, like his frugalness, mistrust of others and how guarded his emotions were, are obviously rooted in his Holocaust experiences. Though these traits (albeit combined with luck) helped him survive Nazi persecution, they strain his relationship with Art in the present. For instance, there are multiple scenes where Vladek is becoming frustrated and upset when another bag of an ingredient is opened when the other bag hasn’t been finished, this obsessive saving of food and money frustrates Art. However, these habits are a direct result of the deprivation and constant fear during the war. For instance, he had to save his tiny “meal” everyday just to be able to trade for other commodities in the camps so it is understandable to always place so much value on resources when you have them. From these actions, Art feels resentment but also guilt and he recognizes his own emotional struggles seem insignificant compared dto what his parents endured. This shows how children of survivors can feel trapped.

Spiegelman explores second generation survivor guilt in Maus II when Art feels uncomfortable profiting from his parents' trauma by turning their experiences into a comic. He feels undeserving of the attention his work received and burdened by the fact that he didn’t suffer as they did. In one scene, he is talking to Francoise in the car and he thinks about how he wishes he experienced Auschwitz. Stanislav explains that intergenerational trauma isn't just passed through stories but also emotional patterns like anxiety and hypervigilance and grief. This is reflected in Art’s depression and need to document his father’s story even if it strains their relationship.

Generational trauma isn’t limited to Holocaust survivors’ families as young people from communities shaped by war, genocide or displacement often inherit fear, mistrust or loss through family narratives. While trauma can’t be fully overcome, Maus shows that acknowledging and confronting it can create more understanding and intergenerational healing.

abrahamlincoln2.0
Boston, MA, US
Posts: 11

The impacts that generational trauma has on the children of Holocaust survivors is hard to define, but based on Spiegelman’s portrayal of his relationship with his father, his entire childhood was affected by it. Throughout Maus, Art constantly writes about the guilt he feels for not being able to relate to the experiences and horrors his father faced. Stansilav writes that Art’s “identification with his parents’ affliction [became] so intense that he [started] imagining being in Auschwitz,” and how, “he recalls his perverse dreams from childhood about Nazi soldiers storming into his classroom and dragging away all the Jewish pupils” (Kolar 232). These imaginations and thoughts are rooted in Art’s desire to connect more with his parents, particularly his father, Vladek, who was especially distant from him. He believed that, if he experienced it himself, he would gain a better understanding of why his parents were so closed off. This kind of thinking illustrates that his parents’ trauma caused him mental distress.

Additionally, while reflecting on his late brother, Richieu, he mentions how, even though he is dead, the memory of Richieu always haunted him and made him feel inadequate. He felt pressured to be better because, unlike his brother, he had never experienced anything close to what his parents did. This feeling that he was never enough followed into his adult life where, despite his father’s praise towards his interest in writing a book about the Holocaust, he constantly felt stressed and worried that his depiction of it would fall short of all expectations.

Outside of his father though, Art was also pressured by his neighbors' wishes to keep him healthy and well. Since Vladek lived in a neighborhood full of other Holocaust survivors, they formed an immense sense of community. So, when Art initially refused to take care of his father, some of his father’s neighbors guilt tripped him by mentioning what he went through during the Holocaust. Art’s reasons for not wanting to take care of his father were valid, especially because his father’s trauma from his time in the camps caused him to become very closeminded and picky, but the idea that he would be “abandoning” his father forced him to find a compromise. Thus, even in smaller aspects like these, young people are endlessly affected by the suffering experienced by their ancestors.

Based on this, it is possible to move beyond generational trauma, such as Art tried to do, but it is better to acknowledge and live with it. If he had not spent so much of his adult life trying to forget and erase the effects his parents’ trauma had on him, he likely would have realized that accepting those experiences may have helped him connect with them more. Ultimately, embracing generational trauma can help children of Holocaust survivors gain deeper understandings of their past and connections with their parents.
ilovelexi23
West Roxbury, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10
Generational trauma impacts the children of the Holocaust survivors, like Spiegelman by shaping their identity, emotions and relationships in life. Even though they did not directly deal with the Holocaust, the trauma their parents faced is a very hard thing to deal with and leaves them with trauma. In Maus, we see Art dealing with his dads trauma as it affects his everyday life. His father, Vladek treats people differently and shapes how he acts as a father due to the suffering of the Holocaust. Art struggles with the overwhelming amount of pressure he feels to impress and be there for his parents. He wants to honor his dad as he survived the Holocaust and doesn't want to do anything to let him down which is very difficult on him. The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors as well as communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today even if they did not live through the events themselves is still huge. They inherit the anxiety and feel guilt that they can't help their parents. They struggle with identity due to this and find it hard to understand the full extent of the Holocaust and what their ancestors went through. It may not be possible to move beyond generational trauma I believe because it is something that is so impactful especially on a child, that type of guilt and feeling responsible for their struggles is difficult to move on from. Ignoring trauma can also make it worse and can affect even future generations. Recognizing the trauma and facing it is very important in order to deal with it better and to cause less emotional damage. I think education is also a huge part of this, learning about their past can help us to understand and acknowledge it. Even descendants for other wars and genocides show how history can weigh on a person's life. The Holocaust should be something that is taught to every generation and help them to understand their ancestors' history.
987654321
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 12

Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors because it can be passed down through emotions that parents experience from that trauma and how the behavior affects the children and parent relationship. This is seen in Spiegelman because his relationship with Vladek is strained sometimes because of Vladek’s behaviors and tendencies. Artie’s brother, Richieu, died in the Holocaust, before Artie was able to meet him. The only memories he has of Richieu are old photos and stories from his father and mother. In Maus II, Artie mentions that it felt like a “sibling rivalry” because his parents honored and loved Richieu so much that his death was extremely difficult for them to process. Artie felt like he was competing with the memory of his distant brother. Richieu is symbolic in some ways of the struggle of second generation survivors because Artie says he feels, “inadequate,” by trying to reconstruct such a dark reality that Richieu experienced. Artie feels less than Richieu because he never had to experience such a horror like the Holocaust. This relationship that Artie has with Richieu shows the weight of trauma experienced by past generations can weigh on direct ancestors because there is still a sense of guilt that Artie feels for knowing his brother had to go through the Holocaust. Although Artie isn’t actually guilty, it is more of a sense that his life doesn’t compare to that of his brothers. Although some people may believe that it is possible to move beyond generational trauma because they didn’t directly experience it, it truly isn’t. Rather than forget and move past it, it is much more important to live with it and acknowledge it. Despite the trauma being hard to think about, later generations should honor and remember the strength their ancestors had and bravery. In Maus II, Artie somewhat reflected on whether he wants to be attached to the Holocaust or detached. Throughout the book, the reader can see the gradual attachment that Artie connects with through Vladek telling his story and Artie documenting it. Despite Artie not directly experiencing the Holocaust, being a part of his family makes him a part of it. Generational trauma can have a negative and positive impact. The negative side is that later generations must deal with the guilt and trauma of knowing what their earlier generations experienced. The positive side is that younger generations can continue to share their prior generations' legacies and stories to educate the world and never leave it forgotten.





funny bunny
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 11

Generational trauma negatively affects the children of Holocaust survivors as it causes them to relive the feelings of their parents in a way as their fears and worries are passed down. This was constantly shown in Maus as Vladek retells his story of surviving the Holocaust to Artie. The amount of impact generational trauma can have can be any size, and can be as small as Vladek making Artie finish his food, or as big as burning Anja’s diary and Artie having to deal with his anger and confusion on why Vladek got rid of the last bit of remembrance of Anja. Being a Holocaust survivor has drastically changed the way Vladek sees the world and treats Artie, and can be a reason why he doesn’t fully spoil him and treats him with tough love as that’s all Vladek knew from experiencing such brutality and cruelty. In addition to this, the grief of losing a family member in the Holocaust is passed down, and can be seen as a form of generational trauma. Although Artie never met his brother, Richieu, he has to deal with the expectations that his parents unintentionally imposed onto him due to how they viewed Richieu as an ideal child. Artie feels that Richieu would be the successful child that their parents would be proud of, and caused him to feel that he is now just seen as the trouble maker child to his parents. Not only does he feel less than Richieu at moments, he also feels partially at fault for what Richieu had to go through even though he was clearly not at fault. This further shows the generational trauma that is passed down from generation to generation as future generations begin to have guilt from what their ancestors had to endure, and can cause them to feel immense sorrow for them and find ways to pin it on themselves. This connects to trauma that a community goes through as survivors and those who never experienced the trauma first hand begin to feel guilty for those who did not make it out of the horrid situation.

I feel like generational trauma is a very hard thing to move on from as it is embedded in generations without people realizing it, but that doesn’t make it impossible. I think that if someone wants to try and get rid of generational trauma it would take a lot of recognition and breaking of habits. In a way, I feel like it is important to acknowledge the trauma past generations endured, but I don’t think it is beneficial to let that trauma negatively impact our lives and pull us down. I think that making memorials and commemorations for those who endured horrible things that lead to generational trauma are very important bridges between acknowledging what happened and trying to stop the trauma that is being passed from generation to generation.
ChickenBurger
Dorchester Center, MA, US
Posts: 9

Generation trauma leaves deep and lasting impacts on the children of Holocaust survivors, and Spiegelman is a prime example of this. He uses the story to center around one topic, generation trauma. By doing this, we can see into Spiegelman's own life as he uses Vladek to illustrate his own father. The main way that these pains and trauma is passed down to children is through actions and patterns in the parents behavior. For example, Vladek is constantly frugal on not just money, but food, clothes, and just about anything else. This also leads to him being a hoarder of sorts, refusing to throw things away as they all have value. He shows that the children of survivors feel immense weight from the trauma of their family, even if they never witnessed the events that took place. The Holocaust is not just a horrible time of history, it bleeds into society even today and we can never truly forget the horrible events that took place during World War Two. In today's age, young people are not only affected by the trauma of their families past, but also other conflicts and barriers being placed on them that will eventually lead to generational trauma for their entire next generation. These children of survivors often feel like or are literally trapped in their past generations' trauma and often feel as if they cannot feel their own pain or suffering, as it was predetermined for them when they were born. Now, is it possible to eventually move on from these painful experiences and start anew? Spiegelman hints that moving forward is not the correct choice. In the final scenes of the book where Vladek calls Artie the name of his brother who died in the Holocaust, it shows how truly intertwined both the past and present are. Trying to ignore or subdue these generations of trauma often leads to more destruction, pain, and suffering. Spiegelman suggests that living with and acknowledging the truth allows the person some sense of clarity, albeit some more than others. It allows the next generations to carry the weight of their parents, not crushed by it.
abrahamlincoln2.0
Boston, MA, US
Posts: 11

Originally posted by ilovelexi23 on February 02, 2026 09:51

Generational trauma impacts the children of the Holocaust survivors, like Spiegelman by shaping their identity, emotions and relationships in life. Even though they did not directly deal with the Holocaust, the trauma their parents faced is a very hard thing to deal with and leaves them with trauma. In Maus, we see Art dealing with his dads trauma as it affects his everyday life. His father, Vladek treats people differently and shapes how he acts as a father due to the suffering of the Holocaust. Art struggles with the overwhelming amount of pressure he feels to impress and be there for his parents. He wants to honor his dad as he survived the Holocaust and doesn't want to do anything to let him down which is very difficult on him. The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors as well as communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today even if they did not live through the events themselves is still huge. They inherit the anxiety and feel guilt that they can't help their parents. They struggle with identity due to this and find it hard to understand the full extent of the Holocaust and what their ancestors went through. It may not be possible to move beyond generational trauma I believe because it is something that is so impactful especially on a child, that type of guilt and feeling responsible for their struggles is difficult to move on from. Ignoring trauma can also make it worse and can affect even future generations. Recognizing the trauma and facing it is very important in order to deal with it better and to cause less emotional damage. I think education is also a huge part of this, learning about their past can help us to understand and acknowledge it. Even descendants for other wars and genocides show how history can weigh on a person's life. The Holocaust should be something that is taught to every generation and help them to understand their ancestors' history.

I really agree with the idea that generational trauma shapes the identity of children of Holocaust survivors. Like you said, because the Holocaust essentially rewired his parents’ brains and how they dealt with hardships, Art felt an overwhelming urge to make his parents proud. This later translated into how he wrote and illustrated the comic because he was constantly scared of misrepresenting his father’s story and disappointing him. Also, the idea that generational trauma creates guilt and helplessness in communities and young people today was something I also touched upon. Since the children and descendants of Holocaust survivors likely grew up with distant or traumatized parents, they likely did struggle with finding their identity because they had little to connect with their parents.

I also really liked your idea that ignoring trauma can make it worse. I did not touch upon this in my own response, but I think that elaborating on this idea more would have made it stronger and more persuasive. Regardless, I agree that education is essential to recognizing and reflecting over the harm events like the Holocaust not only have on survivors, but also whole communities. Acknowledging the experiences people faced during these times help bring awareness to society, and ultimately help prevent such events from happening again.

funny bunny
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 11

Originally posted by 987654321 on February 02, 2026 11:03

Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors because it can be passed down through emotions that parents experience from that trauma and how the behavior affects the children and parent relationship. This is seen in Spiegelman because his relationship with Vladek is strained sometimes because of Vladek’s behaviors and tendencies. Artie’s brother, Richieu, died in the Holocaust, before Artie was able to meet him. The only memories he has of Richieu are old photos and stories from his father and mother. In Maus II, Artie mentions that it felt like a “sibling rivalry” because his parents honored and loved Richieu so much that his death was extremely difficult for them to process. Artie felt like he was competing with the memory of his distant brother. Richieu is symbolic in some ways of the struggle of second generation survivors because Artie says he feels, “inadequate,” by trying to reconstruct such a dark reality that Richieu experienced. Artie feels less than Richieu because he never had to experience such a horror like the Holocaust. This relationship that Artie has with Richieu shows the weight of trauma experienced by past generations can weigh on direct ancestors because there is still a sense of guilt that Artie feels for knowing his brother had to go through the Holocaust. Although Artie isn’t actually guilty, it is more of a sense that his life doesn’t compare to that of his brothers. Although some people may believe that it is possible to move beyond generational trauma because they didn’t directly experience it, it truly isn’t. Rather than forget and move past it, it is much more important to live with it and acknowledge it. Despite the trauma being hard to think about, later generations should honor and remember the strength their ancestors had and bravery. In Maus II, Artie somewhat reflected on whether he wants to be attached to the Holocaust or detached. Throughout the book, the reader can see the gradual attachment that Artie connects with through Vladek telling his story and Artie documenting it. Despite Artie not directly experiencing the Holocaust, being a part of his family makes him a part of it. Generational trauma can have a negative and positive impact. The negative side is that later generations must deal with the guilt and trauma of knowing what their earlier generations experienced. The positive side is that younger generations can continue to share their prior generations' legacies and stories to educate the world and never leave it forgotten.





I agree with my peer’s post and I find the part where they mention that it is not possible to move on from generational trauma very compelling. I agree with this in a way, and I wrote about it in my response. I feel like for the most part you can’t move on from generational trauma as it is often embedded from generation to generation, but I feel like some traumas can be moved on from but it just depends what the trauma is. For example, the frugalness that Vladek displays to Artie can be broken by Artie not taking on those tendencies, but it will be very hard as he has grown up with those conditions. I also like the part where my peer mentioned that there are positives to generational trauma, and I agree with this as it can be a way of carrying the history and feelings of prior generations without them being forgotten in the past. I feel like not many people see generational trauma in this way and try to look more at the negatives, and I like the fact that my peer ended off with this. Overall, I think that me and my peer have similar views on generational trauma and the effects of it, and I like the way they described their opinion in their reflection.

EmmetOlive14
Boston, Massachussets, US
Posts: 9

Generational Trauma

I think that generational trauma impacts the children of the holocaust survivors because it affects how they live out there lives. I believe that the parents who survived this horrible time will Ultimately be affected by this for the rest of there lives, and this may affect how they live and how they raise their children. Some may suffer with PTSD, and may never be able to live there lives to fullest and this can affect how there children are raised as well. I also believe that having a parent who survived these horrible times can also help the children to truly be educated on the events that happened during the holocaust. Although they may not care as much when they are younger I am sure as they grow up these are some very important things to learn about. I think that the weight of the trauma that is held upon the ancestors and the communities in which went through the holocaust plays a huge part into how people live there lives today. At the time many communities worth of people were completely wiped out and there is no way to recover from that. While others lost many families during this time, because of this I think that it must be hard to just move on away from this although it has been a very long time since this all happened I think that there is still no way for this to just go away. I think that the weight will continue to stay there for a while and I don't think that there is anything that can just change that. I think that this generational trauma is not something that we can just move beyond. I think that the holocaust is something that the world will always have to live with and acknowledge. These horrible things will always be there for the world to go back and look at, and I think that it is important that we do look back at this so that we can see how much we have evolved as society, and grown as people.
qwertyuiop
South Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 9

I believe Art Spiegelman's use of the comic form is extremely effective in conveying the emotional weight of the Holocaust because it offers the chance for another sense to be used. Just having a book be written word limits the things that can be shown. In Maus Spiegelman uses the drawing as a tool to show the difference between the races he depicts the Jews as mice to show how they were treated by the Nazis, He depicted the Nazis as cats which are the natural predators of mice. The choice to make Jews mice also shows how the Nazi propaganda dehumanized the Jews by comparing them to mice who are often depicted as sneaky and are generally unliked by most people. It also mirrors how mice who are benign hunted or that live in homes hide in walls, attics or basements. The Nazis also being cats symbolizes the predators and prey relationships, how the cats hunt the mice with no remorse. Spiegelman also depicted the poles as pigs, an animal that wasn't directly involved in the cat-mice hierarchy, which reflect how many of the poles were just simple bystanders, some helped the jews while some betrayed them. The Americans appear as dogs which is an animal that is often depicted as the enemies of cats. I believe that without this added visual representation the hierarchy wouldn't be as obvious. In every story you can’t forget it because you see it as you are reading, it's a constant reminder. I also think his use of masks like when vladek puts on the pig mask and pretends to be a pole emphasizes the way your ethnic identity in this time period made up how your life was going to go. I certainly don't think this lacks the seriousness of the holocaust especially I think mouses black and white color shows the somber and serious attitude of the stories he was telling. I also believe the interweaving the past and the present shows how the past is never fully erased and that you carry it with you into your future long after the event has taken place

random
Dorchester, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 10

Generational trauma impacts the children of Holocaust survivors, like Spiegelman because growing up he was affected by it because his father was affected by it because of what he had to go through. His father had trauma and a hard journey, so Spiegelman had to deal with that during his childhood. He struggles because as he was getting older he wanted to hear the entire story of what he went through, so that he could write a story on it for him. He did not get to experience any of this like his father did, so he is affected because his father had to deal with trauma, fear, horror and much more that he would be able to imagine. The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors as well as communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today because it shapes people into different perspectives after experiencing the situations over the period of time. Having people being murdered and killed right in front of them and having to continue on with their life as if nothing happened is just unforgettable. It shapes young people today because they are the ones who are new to hearing stories by people, history, books, articles, etc. In all of these things, they hear stories from many years ago about all the deaths that happened and how some of them survived and what they were like after it had ended. Even when reading about the Holocaust and these traumatic experiences, young people today are scared from it because when they learn history this is one of the stories they hear and talk about. I think it may be possible to move beyond generational trauma, but I don't think people are able to forget it because of how much fear it caused them throughout their lives. I think something that people could try and do is heal by going to therapy to help put the trauma in the past, but they will always remember what they had to go through and the pain it caused them to even possibly survive. In Maus we can see generational trauma towards the end of the book when Vladek threw away Anja’s diaries when Artie wanted to see them, but he could not deal with them because of his past. This trauma could pass onto Artie because he will not know any of her experiences that she went through and what she thought because there is nothing left of hers. In the intergenerational transmission of trauma in Speigelman’s Maus Stanislav says, “Maus depicts how the trauma experienced by Art’s father Vladek, a Holocaust survivor, is passed on to his son, a writer and cartoonist born after World War II,” which shows how the trauma of Vladek is being passed onto Artie because it is generational and he had to live with that after the war and throughout Artie’s childhood.
wazzah123
South Boston, MA, US
Posts: 9

Generational trauma impacts and shapes the lives of Holocaust survivors in all different forms. It can impact some more harshly than others and last for different amounts of time. Art Spiegelman experiences the weight of the Holocaust through stories from his father, Vladek. As stated in Kolář Stanislav’s Intergenerational transmission of trauma in Spiegelman's Maus, “Art’s story confirms the assertion that generations which have never been exposed to a traumatic event can ‘inherit’ the trauma of their ancestors and that the most common channel of this intergenerational and transgenerational transmission is through the family” (Stanislav 228). This is evident in Art’s life as he wasn’t actually there to witness and experience the reality of the Holocaust, but nevertheless he can understand the weight and emotional toll it took on his father. Due to his fathers storytelling, Artie lives in a sense of guilt as he feels some sort of responsibility. He wants to be there for his father and listen to his story, but at the same time he feels guilty for living a better life. He may hear these stories, but he’ll never be able to fully understand the pain and suffering from the direct experience of the Holocaust, therefore making him feel distant from his father.

The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors as well as communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today. Although young people, like Artie, didn’t directly experience the Holocaust they may feel a sense of guilt and responsibility. They might feel like it’s their responsibility to keep the story of their ancestors alive, but they also might feel pressured that they aren’t conveying the full story because it happened so many generations ago.

Furthermore, I don’t think one should move past generational trauma, better yet they should acknowledge it. Completely disregarding such a profound event in history isn’t very realistic and the events of the Holocaust are tied to certain communities. Being able to acknowledge it and tell your story and the stories of your ancestors shows strength and resilience. It shows that you’re not trapped by what happened and are able to work through the pain and trauma to create an identity for yourself rather than being put under a label.

987654321
Boston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 12

Originally posted by ilovelexi23 on February 02, 2026 09:51

Generational trauma impacts the children of the Holocaust survivors, like Spiegelman by shaping their identity, emotions and relationships in life. Even though they did not directly deal with the Holocaust, the trauma their parents faced is a very hard thing to deal with and leaves them with trauma. In Maus, we see Art dealing with his dads trauma as it affects his everyday life. His father, Vladek treats people differently and shapes how he acts as a father due to the suffering of the Holocaust. Art struggles with the overwhelming amount of pressure he feels to impress and be there for his parents. He wants to honor his dad as he survived the Holocaust and doesn't want to do anything to let him down which is very difficult on him. The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors as well as communities as a whole play into the lives of young people today even if they did not live through the events themselves is still huge. They inherit the anxiety and feel guilt that they can't help their parents. They struggle with identity due to this and find it hard to understand the full extent of the Holocaust and what their ancestors went through. It may not be possible to move beyond generational trauma I believe because it is something that is so impactful especially on a child, that type of guilt and feeling responsible for their struggles is difficult to move on from. Ignoring trauma can also make it worse and can affect even future generations. Recognizing the trauma and facing it is very important in order to deal with it better and to cause less emotional damage. I think education is also a huge part of this, learning about their past can help us to understand and acknowledge it. Even descendants for other wars and genocides show how history can weigh on a person's life. The Holocaust should be something that is taught to every generation and help them to understand their ancestors' history.

I agree with the statement that although younger generations didn’t directly experience the Holocaust, the trauma of it is still passed down through generations. This was exemplified through Artie and Vladek’s relationship. Vladek’s behavior changed after the Holocaust and this new behavior put strain on their father and son relationship. A point that I brought up was his brother Richieu and this connects with your point about feeling pressure from his parents. There is an overwhelming sense of inferiority because he never had to deal with the brutality of the Holocaust like his father and past brother did. Artie says that he feels “inadequate” because he never experienced it. I also agree with the point that Artie feels guilty and anxious about not going through the same experiences as his past family members. It is also a very strong point that later generations struggle with finding their identity and struggle to know the full extent of the Holocaust. Artie attempts to understand through documenting Vladek’s life, but still, he feels guilty for being able to make a book out of a traumatic experience. I also agree that distinct generation’s stories should continue to be told to later generations so that society can be educated on the Holocaust.

pinkbluegreen
Allston, Massachusetts, US
Posts: 8

Generational trauma severely impacts the children of Holocaust survivors like Spiegelman because of coping mechanism and lifestyle habits that might intervene with childhood habits. For example Spiegelman talked a lot about how his father was very frugal and refused to hire helpers to help him with fixing things around the house. In turn, it put himself at risk and made Spiegelman feel helpless. Spiegelman also spoke about the loss of his older brother and how his death directly impacted his parents while also indirectly impacting him. In response to his parents coping such as speaking highly of him and admiring photographs that allow them to reminisce about his childhood, it made Spiegelman feel like a replacement rather than someone who has a completely fair perspective from his parents. The weight of the trauma experienced by direct ancestors and the community plays a large role in the lives of young people because it influences the way they perceive the country of their parent’s perpetrators and creates a cautious environment for them. It also increases the likelihood of a need to get “revenge”. The communities themselves have a large disconnect as it’s difficult to unite a large group of people with complicated history. Some might feel the need to forget about the history while others remain determined to keep it in the front of people’s minds. The disconnect could be reinforced by remaining antisemetic views that continue to tear apart communities through violence and hate. I think it is possible to live past generational trauma as long as we recognize the habits that are destructive vs. those that are beneficial to yourself and others. I think it’s better to heal generational trauma instead of living with it because it can create patterns in human tendencies that can lead to the same issues as we are currently experiencing with children of Holocaust survivors. Similar to many other conflicts around the world, generational trauma is mostly seen in minorities and foreign countries that have been victims mostly to european oppression. Since it’s not the perpetrators that experience these difficulties, minorities in turn have less access and the inability to resolve the issues that generational trauma can cause. Furthermore, it’s difficult to point out habits that are and are not beneficial. For example, some families feel the need to work harder in their careers causing an influx of certain ethic minorities into selective fields. However, because it this, their opportunities might be limited to such fields as it becomes an expectation or tradition rather than an ambition.

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