Introduction

Abstract

This book focuses on the experiences of second-generation descendants of survivors or refugees from Nazi persecution, returning to the original places connected to their families. As they get older, making these journeys towards their parents’ former ‘home’ becomes increasingly important in the lives of many second generation born of Jewish refugee and survivor parents. As Werner Bohleber (2010: 121) explains, It is beyond an individual’s capacities to integrate such traumatic experiences into a narrative context that is purely personal; a social discourse is also required concerning the historical truth of the traumatic events, as well as their denial and defensive repudiation.