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January 06, 1989 - Image 32

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1989-01-06

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

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THE BRIGHT IDEA

send

THE JEWISH NEWS

as a gift

32

FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1989

AMCHA Helps Survivors
Cope With Holocaust

354 6060

-

Special to The Jewish News

A

fter more than two
years of work acquir-
ing worldwide finan-
cial and moral support, AM-
CHA, the National Israeli
Center for Psychosocial Sup-
port of Survivors of the
Holocaust, the only institu-
tion of its kind in Israel, final-
ly opened its doors in April
1988. Modelled on the "Elah"
organization that has treated
Dutch Holocaust survivors in
Israel for the past eight years,
AMCHA will treat a far
larger population, many of
whom are in dire need of help.
AMCHA, which in modern
Hebrew means "the common
people," was the name chosen
by the founders of the
organization who are mostly
Holocaust survivors and their
children. Their interpretation
of the word, however, is slight-
ly different: "Amcha" was the
word used amongst Diaspora
Jews in the 1940s and 1950s
when referring to a fellow
Jew. One would say: "is he
amcha?", meaning "is he one
of us?" The underlying mean-
ing was that Jews owed a
sense of responsibility to
those who were "amcha."
This sense of responsibility
was the driving force behind
the group who launched the
project. The main initiative
came from Manfred Klafter, a
survivor of the Westerbork
concentration camp on the
German-Dutch border. He
realized that no framework
for the psychological treat-
ment of Holocaust survivors
existed in Israel, the country
with the largest number of
survivors in the world: "We
have Yad Vashem and other
memorials to commemorate
the dead, but very little is
done for the living," he said.
Ilana Nachmias, a social
worker who worked for 20
years in the Israeli Defense
Forces mental health divi-
sion, is director of the
organization. Together with
her secretary and fellow
social worker Micha van Dijk,
the three comprise the per-
manent staff at AMCHA's of-
fices in a converted apart-
ment in Jerusalem.
It was important that the
professional staff of
psychologists and social
workers, many of whom are
children of Holocaust sur-
vivors who work on a
freelance basis, be well vers-
ed in languages such as Yid-

Holocaust survivors light some of the 6,000 memorial candles at the
Western Wall (symbolizing the 6,000,000 who perished in the Holocaust),
during the World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust survivors in June 1981.

dish, German, Dutch, Rus-
sian and Polish. "Even
though they may have been
in Israel for a long time, elder-
ly survivors often feel more
comfortable speaking in their
mother tongue," Nachmias
said.
Research has shown that
the offspring of Holocaust
survivors is a vulnerable
group. Not only has the im-
pact of the trauma undergone
by parents had transgenera-
tional effects resulting in feel-
ings of insecurity and separa-
tion anxiety similar to their
parents, but feelings of guilt
and the need to compensate
their parents for their suffer-
ing are only some of the pro-
blems which manifest
themselves in this group.
Due to this increased
awareness of their problems,
children of Holocaust sur-
vivors are beginning to feel
the necessity for acquiring
professional help and are tur-
ning to AMCHA.
Many people who were
children during the
Holocaust use AMCHA's ser-
vices and are considered a
"high risk" group. Some were
forced to assume new iden-
tities, thereby denying their
Jewish roots and family ties.
This rejection of identity and
creation of a new one often
caused immense psychologi-
cal damage. These children,
many of whom are now
parents and grandparents,
are having to deal with their
own children leaving home or
going to the army. This
separation, for most sur-
vivors, creates serious
psychological trauma.
The survivors of the

Holocaust who came to Israel
straight from the concentra-
tion camps soon made
building Israel their first
priority, their own
psychological needs becoming
secondary. Most succeeded in
building careers, setting up
families and contributing
their share to society despite
their traumatic past.
"However," Nachmias cau-
tions, "these people who
showed so much strength and
were able to direct all their
energies into rebuilding their
lives, are now growing old."
No longer can they suppress
their memories by hard work.
Their defenses are down and
they are more vulnerable. Old
age is a time of losses, of
spouses who die, children who
move away. It is then that
memories come to the fore
and help is needed.
Until now, AMCHA's fun-
ding has come primarily from
Holland, Germany, Austria
and Belgium; particularly
from private Christian
ogranizations and churches.
Money, however, continues to
be a problem, for although
the need for offices in other
centers is great, AMCHA is
unable at present to expand
its services. "It is a sad situa-
tion," says Nachmias, referr-
ing to the ever increasing
waiting list of people who
wish to avail themselves of
AMCHA's services. "These
people have waited 45 years,
and for lack of facilities we
are asking them to wait even
longer."
"The main thing, though,"
she concludes, "is that we are
here for these people.

World Zionist Press Service

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