Through lengthy interviews and observation of family relationships, this book investigates how the histories of those involved in the Holocaust (as both victims and perpetrators) impact, socially and psychologically, on the lives of the second and third generation.
Five case studies of survivors' families from Germany and Israel present different experiences of persecution, and demonstrate to what extent the past defines post-War family dynamics. Two case studies of non-Jewish German families where the grandparents' generation are suspected of having perpetrated Nazi crimes show how guilt, and the myth of themselves being victims, are pressed on to the succeeding generations.