An investigation of potential Holocaust-related secondary traumatization in the third generation

This study investigated whether grandchildren of Holocaust survivors placed in concentration camps were more prone to PTSD symptoms than grandchildren of Jewish non-immigrants (native-born) and grandchildren of Non-Jewish immigrants. It has been well established that PTSD symptoms can be transmitted from Holocaust survivor parents to their children. Previous research has not yet established whether an identical transmission of PTSD symptoms can occur from the second generation to the third. The measures employed in conducting this study were the Secondary Trauma Scale (STS), the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Form Y) (STAI), and a Modified Stroop Procedure which was comprised of colored Holocaust trauma-related words, positive words, neutral words and obsessive compulsive disorder words. Results indicate that all three groups exhibited longer response latency for the PTSD Holocaust-related stimuli card thereby indicating an increased sensitivity across all populations regardless of race or religion. The grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and the grandchildren of Non-Jewish immigrants scored significantly higher than the grandchildren of Jewish Americans on the Secondary Trauma Scale as well as the Avoidance subscale of the IES-R. This finding suggests a possible immigration effect for these groups. There were no other significant differences across the other measures employed in this study. These conclusions can be construed as persuasive evidence that, with respect to Holocaust-induced secondary trauma, the residual impact is diminished to such an extent by the third generation that the differences between grandchildren of Holocaust survivors and the overall population are statistically non-significant.