Holocaust child survivors and child sexual abuse

Holocaust child survivors and child sexual abuse

Journal of Child Sex Abuse - 2005;14 (2):69-83.

By R. Lev-Wiesel R and M. Amir

 

Department of Social Work, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, 84105, Israel.

 

This study utilized a qualitative analysis of child survivors of the Holocaust who were sexually abused during World War II. The research study aimed to give this specific group of survivors a voice and to explore the impact of multiple extreme traumas, the Holocaust and childhood sexual abuse, on the survivors. Twenty-two child survivors of the Holocaust who were sexually abused during the war completed open-ended interviews. The data was qualitatively analyzed according to Tutty, Rothery, and Grinnell's (1996) guidelines. Three major themes were found: issues relating to the sexual abuse trauma, survivors' perceptions of the abuse, and survivors' general perspectives towards life. The identity of the offenders, Jewish or non-Jewish, determined the survivors' feelings towards themselves, the perpetrators, and about the worth of life.

PMID: 15914411 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]