Survivors: Children's Lives After the Holocaust

by Rebecca Clifford

Overview

Shortlisted for the 2021 Wolfson History Prize and a finalist for the 2021 Cundill History Prize
 
Told for the first time from their perspective, the story of children who survived the chaos and trauma of the Holocaust—named a best history book of 2020 by the Daily Telegraph
 
“Impressive, beautifully written, judicious and thoughtful. . . . Will be a major milestone in the history of the Holocaust and its legacy.”—Mark Roseman, author of The Villa, the Lake, the Meeting
 
How can we make sense of our lives when we do not know where we come from? This was a pressing question for the youngest survivors of the Holocaust, whose prewar memories were vague or nonexistent. In this beautifully written account, Rebecca Clifford follows the lives of one hundred Jewish children out of the ruins of conflict through their adulthood and into old age.
 
Drawing on archives and interviews, Clifford charts the experiences of these child survivors and those who cared for them—as well as those who studied them, such as Anna Freud. Survivors explores the aftermath of the Holocaust in the long term, and reveals how these children—often branded “the lucky ones”—had to struggle to be able to call themselves “survivors” at all. Challenging our assumptions about trauma, Clifford’s powerful and surprising narrative helps us understand what it was like living after, and living with, childhoods marked by rupture and loss.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300264708
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/08/2022
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Rebecca Clifford is professor of European history at Durham University.

Table of Contents

Illustrations viii

Abbreviations x

Acknowledgements xi

On Names xv

Introduction 1

1 Another War Begins 15

2 The Adult Gaze 38

3 Claiming Children 58

4 Family Reunions 89

5 Children of the Chateau 110

6 Metamorphosis 130

7 Trauma 154

8 The Lucky Ones 179

9 Becoming Survivors 198

10 Stories 215

11 Silences 238

Conclusion: The Last Witnesses 259

Notes 269

Bibliography 301

Index 318

Editorial Reviews

In this major contribution to the history of the Holocaust, Clifford has written a highly original, deeply moving and perceptive study of the way child survivors struggled to come to terms with their personal tragedies.”—Saul David, Sunday Telegraph

“A painful history. . . . Combining analysis of survivors’ testimonies recorded over the years, documents from the archives of organizations that came into contact with these children, and oral histories Clifford herself collected, the book shows how many of these survivors struggled with the act of making sense of their lives—even the lucky ones, who didn’t witness violence, and whose material needs were well met during the period of conflict and persecution. Clifford calls the work ‘fundamentally a book about the history of living after, and living with, a childhood marked by chaos.’”—Rebecca Onion, Slate

“A finalist for the Cundill History Prize, [Clifford’s] book is based on the stories of 100 child survivors of the Holocaust, born between 1935 and 1944. The book, also shortlisted for Britain’s Wolfson History Prize, examines historical trauma and its sizable impact.”—Globe and Mail, (Best Books of 2021)

“Clifford leads readers through this history of pain and incomprehension with the utmost sensitivity.”—Christopher Moore, Literary Review of Canada

“Survivors: Children’s Lives After the Holocaust liberates the history of child survivors from obscurity. It elevates the experience of each child survivor and weaves a narrative that shares the collective trauma of these youngest victims. Clifford’s style makes this account accessible to any reader, and gives voice to those who were likely to be forgotten at a time when, with the passing of many older survivors, we must be particularly vigilant to ensure that the atrocities of the past will not be forgotten.”—Jonathan Fass, Jewish Book Council

Finalist for the Cundill History Prize sponsored by McGill University

Winner of the 2021 Scholarship Award, sponsored by the Canadian Jewish Literary Awards

Shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2021

Honorary mention in the 2021 British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies Book Prize

“Really impressive, beautifully written, judicious and thoughtful. I have no doubt Survivors will be a major milestone in the history of the Holocaust and its legacy.”—Mark Roseman, author of The Villa, the Lake, the Meeting

“A wonderful piece of writing, its power and intelligence so delicately crafted, a truly significant contribution to our understanding of the consequences over time of the interplay between trauma, memory and identity.”—Philippe Sands, author of East West Street and The Ratline

“A comprehensive and highly readable examination of the experiences of child Holocaust survivors by an historian sensitive to the many variables that determined their survival during the Second World War and after. Drawing on her own interviews with child survivors, other people’s interviews, interviews with care workers, foster parents and mental health professionals, as well as archival documents, Professor Clifford ably navigates through this complex history and historiography with skill and great nuance.”—Helen Epstein, author of The Long Half-Lives of Love and Trauma

“In this moving and beautifully written book, Rebecca Clifford has produced one of the best analyses of child Holocaust survivors to appear to date. Subverting commonplace assumptions about children yet remaining ethically attuned to their needs, suffering and hopes, Survivors is a book which demands our attention.”—Dan Stone, author of Liberation of the Camps

From the Publisher