CREATING SECOND GENERATION GROUPS IN THE USA AND ISRAEL: A Four-decade Perspective

From the late 1970s onward there have been numerous initiatives by descendants of Holocaust survivors to create Second Generation groups in the USA and Israel. Some have been successful, others have not. Some have continued to exist over long periods of time; others disappeared after a short period of activity. As the person who established both the first and most recent such group in Israel, I discuss the impetus for their genesis, their focus and activities, and the reasons for their continued existence or disappearance. Additionally, as the last group I established, which is an international one, is specifically focused on Second and Third Generation members who are researchers or for whom a significant part of their professional lives involve research (of all kinds, not just Holocaust research), I use it to examine the connection between being a Holocaust survivor’s descendant and the choice of a research career. The results of that examination are presented and analyzed in this chapter.