Hell within Hell: Sexually Abused Child Holocaust Survivors - Paperback

by Rachel Lev-Wiesel (Author), Susan Weinger (Author)

Deafening silence generally surrounds the sexual abuse perpetrated against child Survivors of the Holocaust by their saviors and captors. In this book, child Survivors who endured two of the most severe traumas-the Holocaust and sexual abuse-bravely tell their stories to prevent this crucial aspect of the Holocaust from being buried and left virtually unknown to the world. The testimonies of these Survivors, who were beholden to their abusive saviors or entrapped by their terrorizing guards, reveal that sexual traumas leave a differential as well as a combined psychological trail from the Holocaust experience. Hell within Hell begins with background information about the Holocaust and its impact on the lives of Survivors. The authors then explain why sexual abuse is so psychologically devastating and discuss how such a traumatic experience reverberates later in life. Readers are able to use this knowledgeable context to fully listen to the Survivors' powerful voices. The afterword contains a dialogue between the authors befitting the Survivors' forthright accounts.

Author Biography

Rachel Lev-Wiesel, Ph.D., a professor and chair of the Graduate School of Creative Art Therapies, University of Haifa in Israel, has published more than one hundred scientific papers and chapters and five books on issues such as the long-term effects of the Holocaust, intergenerational transmission of trauma, and child sexual abuse. She is a second-generation descendant of Holocaust survivors.
Susan Weinger, Ph.D., professor of social work at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, focuses on gender issues, poverty, and multicultural sensitivity in her teaching, research, and service activities.