Justice Matters : Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II

Springing from an unprecedented meeting between the sons and daughters of the Holocaust and the children of Nazis, Justice Matters: Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II examines the psychology of hatred and ethnic resentments passed from generation to generation. Weissmark, a social psychologist and the child of Holocaust survivors, argues that justice is quite naturally shaped by emotional responses. In the face of unjust treatment, the natural response is resentment and deep anger - and a desire for revenge. While legal systems offer a structured means for redressing injustice, it often does not redress the emotional pain, which, left unresolved, is then passed along to the next generation - leading to entrenched ethnic tension and group conflict. Examining the legacy of the Holocaust, the burden of confronting unresolved injustices was passed to another generation, as, clearly, there has been no reconciliation between Nazis and survivors. Thus, coming to terms with their parents' past shaped the lives of Nazis' children and survivors' children. How would the offspring of Nazis and survivors react to the idea of re-establishing a relationship? Could children of survivors and Nazis talk to each other about the Holocaust and World War II and understand the anxieties of each about the other as a gateway to re-establishing a relationship? Could they face the others' passions and points of view? To address these questions, Weissmark embarked on a study of children of survivors and Nazis, and how they come to terms with the past and each other. Part of the study included an unprecedented meeting between the children of survivors and Nazis. Although more than half a century has passed, recollections of the Holocaust and WWII still sear the lives of survivors, their children and grandchildren. Weissmark discovered that central to keeping the cycle of ethnic and religious strife is story-telling, with each side recounting the injustice it suffered and the valour show