Open AccessCanadian Holocaust Survivors: From Liberation to Rebirth
Author(s) -
Paula J. Draper
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
canadian jewish studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1916-0925
pISSN - 1198-3493
DOI - 10.25071/1916-0925.19811
Subject(s) - agency (philosophy) , the holocaust , judaism , ignorance , polity , sympathy , situated , gender studies , history , sociology , psychology , political science , politics , social psychology , law , social science , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science
Survivors of the Holocaust emerged from their traumatic experienceswith physical and emotional scars that would take a lifetimeto mend. The first years after Liberation were marked bywandering and coming to terms with the loss of personal andnational identities. Survivors came to Canada hoping to buildnew lives, yet discovered that their memories travelled withthem. Canadian Jews and Social Service agency workersapproached them with varying degrees of sympathy and uneasiness,sensitivity and ignorance. In the larger cities, survivorstended to build their own communities of extended families.Younger survivors who were able to complete their educationmelded into the larger Jewish polity. Despite the burden of theirpasts, most survivors who settled in Canada were determined toconstruct meaningful new lives and rebuild their families.