Holocaust Trauma and its Transgenerational Transmission in the Visegrad Countries

In the context of Central and Eastern Europe, the legacy of the Holocaust is still very much alive. The post-war silence on the impact of the Holocaust and the persistent stigmatization of Jews during the communistic era has affected coping within the intergenerational chain of Holocaust trauma. Sharing the Hungarian, Polish, Slovak and Czech experiences together shows both similarities (such as the conspiracy of silence) and differences (societal milieu, relation to Jewish population) in addition to original attempts at coping and treatment for the traumatic impact of the Holocaust. Contemporary authors on the topic of transgenerational transmission of trauma can build on the work of earlier pioneers such as Teréz Virág in Hungary, Maria Orwid in Poland, Peter Salner in Slovakia and Helena Klímová in the Czech Republic. The authors' shared experiences underscore the importance of systematic psychotherapy as a path to understanding and healing. Expanding treatment options for transgenerational trauma will be needed to prevent traumas in the future.