Late Suicide Among Holocaust Survivors in Israel

On April 29, 2019, the George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights and Conflict Prevention invited Amia Lieblich ­– an Israeli psychologist and writer, and a professor emerita of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem – to speak to an audience of AUP students, staff and faculty about her research into the life stories of Holocaust survivors who, having established new lives in Israel, committed suicide in later life. The presentation – introduced by Professor Brian Schiff, the director of the Center – covered several factors that may have led to these tragic circumstances, including the concept of survivor’s guilt and the need for a receptive audience when writing about trauma.

Lieblich presented the life stories of two Jewish Holocaust survivors – Chajka Klinger (1917–1958) and Beni Virtzberg (1928–1968) – both of whom wrote about their experiences during the Holocaust having found their way to Israel after the Second World War. They developed depression later in life, both committing suicide at the age of 40. Through a moving examination of their life-stories, Lieblich shows how concepts such as resilience can be used to analyze the aftermath of trauma on an individual, drawing on perspectives from moral philosophy and psychology to frame her argument. Following the talk, questions from the audience covered, among other topics, gendered perspectives and the ethics of using traumatic life stories in research. You can see the full lecture and discussion in the video below.