Narrative group therapy with aging child survivors of the Holocaust

Child survivors of the Holocaust, aged 1-16 years at liberation in 1945, now well beyond mid-life, are approaching the gerontic stage of their psychosocial development. They find themselves confronted with the demands of aging, as well as unmet needs related to their damaged early development. AMCHA, the National Israeli Center for Psychosocial Support of Holocaust Survivors and the Second Generation, attempted to create a framework for exploring and meeting these needs. An account is given of a narrative group consisting of aging, non-clinical child survivors who met once monthly over a period of more than five years. The individual narratives spun out within the group meetings weave a common texture which served as a context for mutual recognition, dialogue and restoration of meaning to fragmented childhood memories. Retrieval of the lost life stories served as a bridge for the belated "homecoming" of the "lost children." One of the problems is how to resolve the group with the right amount of tears because, regardless of the achievements, mourning is not completed.