The Holocaust ended May 8th, 1945 with the liberation of Auschwitz, the largest camp in Nazi territory and the one where most deaths took place; but for those who were lucky enough to survive, the effects of the war would remain with them for the rest of their lives. Not only were the Jews stripped of all their belongings and identity, but they were also forced to betray their own ethical codes. As survivors tried to assimilate back in to every day life, the memories of the family they had lost and the brutal events they witnessed kept resurfacing, leaving long-term psychological effects such as: anxiety, depression, psychosomatic disorders, survival guilt, isolation, and sleep disturbances. Not only did the survivors themselves experience these effects, but their children and grandchildren would as well. Victor Frankl’s memoir Man Search for Meaning, Lawrence Langer’s memoir Holocaust Testimonies: The …show more content…
I remember after Liberation, I suffered probably more from loneliness and the isolation, more than during the Holocaust period…I suppose it has to do with the fact that after, the life around you seems to be normal but you are abnormal. Well, why?...In concentration camps and labor camps, there was a preoccupation with survival…But then after what was called-actually, the realization of liberation was not vivid to me, was not real with me for a long time, but I remember during the years ’45, ’46, ’47, and even up to ’48, I would find myself crying, and quite frequently…[experiencing] a feeling of “Yes, I’m alive, but that’s it, the rest doesn’t matter” (Langer 23). This is arguable the most dangerous symptom of the concentration camp syndrome because sleep disturbance, anxiety, and feelings of guilt are all symptoms that with time and the proper attention can all be managed and possibly overcome, but loneliness is a feeling that consumes you and eventually if your loneliness can’t be filled up by something, it can be