THE AMAZING MEANING & POWER OF TRUAMA, GRIEF AND LOVE
Meaning for many of the survivors of the Holocaust included being available to tell their story so that it would never happen again; for others, meaning meant a determination that Jewish life continue and thrive, rather than be wiped out, as Hitler had wished. Meaning for some had to do with the love they felt for another. As with Frankl and other survivors, those of us who survive trauma and grief do so by eventually finding meaning in the experience.
Rosemary Altea, in her book, You Have the Power: Stories and Exercises to Inspire and Unleash the Force Within, has written of her experience of a reading given for congregants of a synagogue in California during which she connected with relatives who suffered through the Holocaust. The description of this horrific experience is in a later part of the book. (The book is also available on tape and CD. To hear her share her experiences of those who were in the concentration camps and their journeys to the other side is stunningly powerful. It has stayed with me for many years. Once again, it is the meaning you will give to either reading or listening to these stories regarding the Holocaust that will determine how powerful it is for you.