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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.