Justice Matters: Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II

Justice Matters: Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II
by Mona Sue Weissmark (http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=2296416&s=96632915)

Editorial Reviews

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In 1992 Weissmark brought together 22 Jews and Germans for a four-day meeting at Harvard University. They were sons and daughters of concentration camp survivors and sons and daughters of Nazis. Weissmark, a psychologist and the child of Holocaust survivors, undertook a study to examine how injustice influences interpersonal behavior as the participants tried to come to terms with the past and with each other. Drawing on interviews and the conference findings, the book uncovers a complex story and reveals how unjust, painful events of years ago continue to shape the legacies of both survivors' and Nazis' children. Weissmark explores the question, "Can good people pursue heinous acts?"; reviews research concerning the psychology of injustice; analyzes research concerning people's experience of injustice; and provides a framework for understanding how emotions and cognitions follow the perception of injustice. The book is a major contribution to the study of the descendants of survivors and perpetrators. George Cohen
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Product Description:
Springing from an unprecedented meeting between the sons and daughters of the Holocaust and the children of Nazis, Justice Matters:Legacies of the Holocaust and World War II examines the psychology of hatred and ethnic resentments passed from generation to generation. Weissmark, a social psychologist and the child of Holocaust survivors, argues that justice is quite naturally shaped by emotional responses. In the face of unjust treatment, the natural response is resentment and deep anger-and a desire for revenge. While legal systems offer a structured means for redressing injustice, it often does not redress the emotional pain, which, left unresolved, is then passed along to the next generation-leading to entrenched ethnic tension and group conflict. Examining the legacy of the Holocaust, the burden of confronting unresolved injustices was passed to another generation, as, clearly, the there has been no reconcilation between Nazis and survivors. Thus, coming to terms with their parents' past shaped the lives of Nazis' children and survivors' children. How would the offspring of Nazis and survivors react to the idea of reestablishing a relationship? Could children of survivors and Nazis talk to each other about the Holocaust and World War II and understand the anxieties of each about the other as a gateway to reestablishing a relationship? Could they face the others' passions and points of view? To address these question, Weissmark embarked on a study of children of survivors and Nazis, and how they come to terms with the past and each other. Part of the study included an unprecedented meeting between the children of survifors and Nazis. Although more than half a century has passed, recollections of the Holocaust and WWII still sear the lives of survivors, their children and grandchildren. Weissmark discovered that central to keeping the cycle of ethnic and religious strife alive is story-telling, with each side recounting the injustice it suffered and the valor shown by avenging its own group. She describes how these stories or "legacies" transmit moral values, beliefs and emotions and thus preserve the past, and thus, based on the microcosm of their parents' personal experiences, each group maintains an understanding of themselves as the legitimate victims. Ultimately, Weissmark argues that coming to terms with their parents' past requires both parties not just agree to talk, but to agree to moderate their emotions and dispense with the notion that they are the most aggrieved. While focused on the experience of the Holocaust,Justice Matters provides insights into ethnic conflicts around the world, such as those in Northern Ireland and the Middle East. The stories of how the children of Holocaust survivors and the children of Nazis struggle to come to terms with the past has universal applications for any society riven with resentment, and benefits our understanding of the emotional pain of injustice.

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Product Details:
Hardcover: 198 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press (January 1, 2004)
ISBN: 0195157575
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces. (View shipping rates and policies (http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=2296335&s=96632915))
Average Customer Review: based on 4 reviews.
Amazon.com Sales Rank in Books (http://rd.bcentral.com/?ID=2296347&s=96632915): #27,792
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