The cross-generational transmission of trauma: ritual and emotion among survivors of the
Holocaust, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
Jacobs, J. (2011)
Jacobs (2011) investigates the role of ritual in the cross-generational transmission of trauma among
first and second-generation Holocaust survivors.
Beginning of 1966, psychiatric and psychological studies of 2nd generation Holocaust survivor:
described as suffering from nightmares, guilt, depression, fear of death, sadness and presence of
intrusive images
2 modes of parental (first-generational) communication
1. Obsessive storytelling: parents were likely to speak continually and graphically about their
experiences of Nazi persecution
2. Deep emotional silence: parental trauma conveyed through ‘the untold story’ (ie feelings and
emotions that permeated the survivor household)
Methodology:
● Open-ended interview schedule focusing on family history,
● Transmission of knowledge about the Holocaust,
● Religious upbringing, and
● Current spiritual beliefs and practices.
1.1 Ritual as a Site of Post-traumatic Emotion
Group rituals are…
● A site of shared emotions
● Connected group members to an ancestral past
● Source of cohesion and memory
● Provide a means to form and sustain group identity among individuals with a common history
and shared culture
Durkheim (1995)
● Allows participants to express and externalise repressed feeling states → catharsis of
emotion
Scheff (1979) and Turner (1969)
4 Dimensions of Family-Based Ritual Practice (Bird, 1995)
1. Meaning: rituals carry symbolic meanings that reflect and reinforce family values, beliefs,
and identity (ie developing shared understanding of roles within family structure)
2. Form: the observable structure or physical aspects of the ritual, such as specific actions,
words, or objects used (ie how it is performed)
3. Function: affirmation of cultural identity through the maintenance of religious traditions
4. Content: expression of feelings that ordinarily are silenced in the family
Holocaust, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
Jacobs, J. (2011)
Jacobs (2011) investigates the role of ritual in the cross-generational transmission of trauma among
first and second-generation Holocaust survivors.
Beginning of 1966, psychiatric and psychological studies of 2nd generation Holocaust survivor:
described as suffering from nightmares, guilt, depression, fear of death, sadness and presence of
intrusive images
2 modes of parental (first-generational) communication
1. Obsessive storytelling: parents were likely to speak continually and graphically about their
experiences of Nazi persecution
2. Deep emotional silence: parental trauma conveyed through ‘the untold story’ (ie feelings and
emotions that permeated the survivor household)
Methodology:
● Open-ended interview schedule focusing on family history,
● Transmission of knowledge about the Holocaust,
● Religious upbringing, and
● Current spiritual beliefs and practices.
1.1 Ritual as a Site of Post-traumatic Emotion
Group rituals are…
● A site of shared emotions
● Connected group members to an ancestral past
● Source of cohesion and memory
● Provide a means to form and sustain group identity among individuals with a common history
and shared culture
Durkheim (1995)
● Allows participants to express and externalise repressed feeling states → catharsis of
emotion
Scheff (1979) and Turner (1969)
4 Dimensions of Family-Based Ritual Practice (Bird, 1995)
1. Meaning: rituals carry symbolic meanings that reflect and reinforce family values, beliefs,
and identity (ie developing shared understanding of roles within family structure)
2. Form: the observable structure or physical aspects of the ritual, such as specific actions,
words, or objects used (ie how it is performed)
3. Function: affirmation of cultural identity through the maintenance of religious traditions
4. Content: expression of feelings that ordinarily are silenced in the family
