Sharing the Holocaust Experience: Communication Behaviors and Their Consequences in Families of Ex-Partisans and Ex-Prisoners of Concentration Camps

This study concerns the manner in which the traumatic events suffered by the parent in the Nazi holocaust are communicated to the second generation born after the Second World War. Additionally we investigated the effects of differences in wartime experiences on subsequent communication behaviors. Communication behaviors in families whose parents had been prisoners in concentration camps were compared with those of families who had displayed active resistance (i.e., were partisans) during the Second World War. The data indicate greater legitimacy and openness in discussing holocaust‐related issues in the homes of ex‐partisans than in the homes of ex‐prisoners in concentration camps. Also, sons and daughters of the former group have better knowledge of the holocaust and hold more favorable attitudes than do sons and daughters in the second group. The implications of these findings are discussed.