Don't Look Back: Holocaust Survivors in the U.S.

Publication Date: October 1991

Publisher: Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Author(s): William Helmreich

Research Area: Culture and religion; Social conditions

Keywords: Demography; Holocaust; Acculturation; History

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

The author reports results of the first quantitative study of Holocaust survivors in the United States based on a truly random sample of survivors. (Previous studies examined only the population seeking social services, which introduced a bias.) Among the findings: that survivors seek psychiatric help less often than American Jews as a whole; that they have generally succeeded economically and socially; and that they have a higher birthrate and a lower divorce rate than American Jews as a whole. The author further discusses the reasons many survivors chose to come to America rather than Israel, and some characteristics of the survivors' experiences arriving in America.