Book Review: History, Trauma and Shame: Engaging the Past through Second Generation Dialogue

Abstract

I was pleased to be invited to review this book at a time when, having just finished off co-editing an anthology of 20 chapters describing the experience of growing up second generation after the Holocaust, I was still deeply immersed in this subject matter1. I had also been inspired by hearing Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela talking about Aesthetics of Memory, Narratives of Repair at a conference in South Africa. History, Trauma and Shame has an unusual focus in that it draws conclusions about the long-term consequences of political violence and how it might be worked with. The content of the book is prefaced by two dedications at the beginning: one to David Reusmann, a child survivor of the Holocaust and the other to Desmond Tutu, who needs no introduction. The editor, Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela is from South Africa and together with her background in academic research on trauma, memory and reconciliation, she provides a wider context than is usual for the meticulously described experience of the authors from Germany, who are associated with The Study Group on Intergenerational Consequences of the Holocaust (formerly PAKH e.V.). This is an organization that was founded