Finding the ‘patterns’ among survivors’ children
Documentary explores how Shoa shaped the ‘second generation’
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Peppy Margolis said children of survivors are “overprotective of their parents” and “usually stay in close proximity” to them.
If you go
What: Kristallnacht program and film, Sharing our Legacy — The Second Generation
Where: White Meadow Temple, Rockaway
When: Sunday, Nov. 6, 9:30 a.m.
Information: Call 973-627-2511 or visit whitemeadowtemple.org.
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November 2, 2011
Peppy Margolis of Clinton always thought being the child of Holocaust survivors made her approach to life different from other people’s. Now she knows it’s true.
A year ago, she completed a documentary about the “second generation,” including interviews with 11 children of Holocaust survivors ranging in age from 30 to 60, from all different backgrounds. All are volunteer members of the advisory committee of the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Raritan Valley Community College, where Margolis is director of cultural outreach.
“As I started to get to know other second generation survivors, I started seeing patterns in the way we all deal with life and something about the resilience, the way we respond, the way we parent, the way we make contributions to society,” Margolis told NJJN by phone from her office on the Branchburg campus.
Sharing Our Legacy — The Second Generation, which had its premiere Nov. 10, 2010, at the Museum of Tolerance in Manhattan, will be shown as part of a Kristallnacht program on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 9:30 a.m. at White Meadow Temple in Rockaway. The program is sponsored by the temple’s adult education department, sisterhood, and men’s club together with White Meadow Lake Hadassah. Margolis will introduce the film and answer questions afterward.
In addition to conducting the interviews for the documentary, Margolis hired a psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Wilen-Berg, to analyze the responses. Wilen-Berg, a child of survivors who works with families of survivors, served as a consultant on the film.
One clear message that comes from Sharing our Legacy is the way the second generation takes particular care of their parents, according to Margolis.
“The children are overprotective of their parents to make sure they don’t experience more pain in their lives,” she said. “They have more frequent contact than others in our generation and usually stay in close proximity to their parents.”
Other commonalities among members of the second generation is a strong impulse to give back to society and help where needed, said Margolis.
Beyond curiosity about her peers, Margolis had another goal in making the film: “to have the second generation speak because their parents are too ill and/or passing away. We want to ensure their stories are remembered and told with accuracy.”
In fact, she said, for several of those interviewed, participating in the project led them to start speaking as panelists on Holocaust and genocide issues, something they hadn’t done before. One has also written a book about her mother’s experiences during the Holocaust.
‘An emotional response’
Margolis’s parents were both originally from Poland. Her mother survived Majdanek and Auschwitz; her father survived in a number of labor camps and was eventually liberated from Buchenwald. They came to the United States in 1950; both are still alive.
As RVCC director of cultural outreach, Margolis oversees The Paul Robeson Institute in addition to the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. She has more than 20 years of experience in those areas as well as cultural diversity and interfaith relations.
She also served as coordinator of the Holocaust Program at United Jewish Federation of MetroWest — the forerunner of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ — and served as cochair of the international conference “51 Years Later: Evaluating Holocaust Education.”
The film was produced by Harry Hillard, adjunct associate professor of film at RVCC. Hillard also brought on several students who volunteered to do camera work. They had already worked together on a previous project interviewing survivors. But as they all found out together working on Sharing our Legacy, interviews with second generation members are more complicated.
“Survivors bring a historical framework to their stories. For the second generation, it’s really a response to their parents’ history, and that is more of an emotional response — it’s about how history influences our lives,” said Margolis.
John Sichel, a composer who teaches music at RVCC, composed the music for the film. Funding was provided by the college and a grant from the Jewish Federation of Hunterdon, Somerset, and Warren Counties.
Comments
rabbi dr. bernhard rosenberg
November 04, 2011
STUDIES show that the children of Holocaust survivors, referred to as the “Second Generation”, (2G) can be deeply affected – both negatively and positively—by the horrific events their parents experienced. The intergenerational transmission of trauma is so strong that Holocaust-related influences can even be seen in the “Third Generation”, (3G)children of the children of survivors.
These reactions are not uniqueto children of holocaust survivors children but may also be seen in other survivors children. rabbi dr. bernhard rosenberg
RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
November 04, 2011
Although we are cognizant that our children will be adversely affected, that they will feel great pain upon learning the true facts of the Holocaust, we know that this is something we must do.
I urgently beg of you, my fellow children of Holocaust survivors, keep alive the memory of the courage and will to live possessed by your parents. Time is growing short. Soon, like my parents of blessed memory, they will have left this world. Speak with them now. Learn all you can about their Holocaust experiences and about your grandparents and great-grandparents. Communicate with them before it is too late! This is our mission. This we must vow to do. Join me, my fellow Holocaust brothers and sisters, in this holy mission. Let us join hands and loudly acclaim, “We will keep the memory of the Holocaust alive”. RABBI DR. BERNHARD ROSENBERG
Shell
January 12, 2012
A film entitled, “A Generation Apart,” was in theaters and PBS for years. It was about the relationship of second generation Holocaust to their parents who survived. I did not see the second generation as being an overly giving community. Actually many have a heavy psychological load and have a difficult time fulfilling the expectation of their parents who lost so much and wanted at times, their children to be like perfect dolls. Then too, I am a little surprised that I was not somehow invited since there are so few 2nd generation around. Whatever the story I surely wish you great success with your film and the awesome community of people affiliated with the Holocaust studies at Raritan Valley Community College.