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Life gained – identity lost – Untold stories from the second- and third generation Holocaust survivors
Author(s): Johansson, Thomas; Mattsson, Christer
Date: 2025
Topics: Holocaust Survivors, Holocaust Survivors: Children of, Holocaust Survivors: Grandchildren of, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Jewish Identity, Oral History and Biography, Interviews
Abstract: This study focused on the families of first-generation Holocaust survivors who arrived in Sweden after World War II, hid, repressed their Jewish identities, and did not transmit their cultural heritage to their children. They raised their children as Swedish. This study was aimed at examining the experiences of 20 second- and third-generation Holocaust survivors with a non-Jewish upbringing. The results showed that the reasons why the first generation concealed their history and identity were unclear. In certain cases, their identity was hidden out of fear of being identified as Jewish and becoming the object of hate and harassment. The reason for concealing their identities has become a part of postmemory work among the study participants and is important in understanding their past. This study shows that the second and third generations also tend to hide their Jewish identity out of fear of being the target of hate.
Holocaust education and the Palestinian cause: young Palestinian people in Sweden, and their perceptions of Holocaust education
Author(s): Adwan, Sami; Mattsson, Christer; Johansson, Thomas
Date: 2021
Topics: Holocaust Education, Interviews, Main Topic: Holocaust and Memorial, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Students, Schools: Seconday / High Schools, Immigration
Abstract: The paper investigates the experiences, perceptions and responses of immigrants with a Palestinian background in relation to learning about the Holocaust and the Palestinian cause in Swedish schools and visiting Holocaust sites. Data were collected from 50 immigrant students using audio-recorded and open-structured interviews. The results indicate that most informants had learned about the Holocaust in various classes, through readings, discussions and assignments, but very little about the Palestinian cause in textbooks or in school activities. The majority of informants were never asked to take part in Holocaust site visits, but if they were to be asked, 84% were willing make such visits. The majority of informants expressed sympathy with Holocaust victims, but they were not satisfied, as they felt there was too much focus on the Holocaust and too little on the Palestinian cause. This lived experience of imbalance between the two subjects resulted in reluctant attitudes towards Holocaust education among the Palestinian pupils, but this should not mainly be understood as a result of anti-Semitic sentiments among them. The results indicate that Holocaust education in Swedish schools among youngsters with a Palestinian background can hardly be treated separately from the question of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.