The effects of war and persecution have been etched in the minds and hearts of the Jewish people for millennia. But the terrorist attacks on Israel that began on October 7th, 2023, have brought new levels of pain, struggle and fear to our community — particularly Holocaust survivors — and JF&CS professionals are having to constantly adapt to new resulting challenges.
While there are still heroes fighting to defend Israel, our survivors have been buoyed by a different kind of champion: their social workers. Anat Granath, Lead Case Manager for Holocaust Survivor Services (HSS), Amy Neuman, Director of Holocaust Survivor Services, and Bebe Forehand, a Holocaust Survivor, share how the war has affected them over the past year both personally and professionally.
Survivors’ Grief
The anxiety felt by survivors has reached a crescendo in the aftermath of October 7th, but the pressure has been building for the last few years, says Anat. The hateful antisemitic attack of the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 shook the community; COVID-19 required survivors to isolate to protect their health, increasing levels of loneliness, fear and disconnection. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many survivors had to flee to safety; 80% of the survivors HSS helps today are from the Former Soviet Union.
Survivors were already feeling triggered and afraid before the events of October 7th; but now they fear that the horror of the Holocaust is being repeated.
Born in Belgium, Bebe survived the Holocaust by hiding in an attic with her parents and brother until they could get to safety in the United States. So many years later, she sees troubling parallels to the events of today.
“I feel afraid,” she says, slowly shaking her head. “This isn’t right, what is happening.”
“Our survivors use the word ‘fear’ all the time,’” says Anat. “They are reporting unprecedented mental and physical symptoms since October 7th: increased levels of anxiety, high blood pressure, lack of sleep, disrupted sleep, and high levels of depression,” she sighs. “They constantly talk about and fear what will happen to their children and grandchildren — that comes up all the time.”
Like Bebe, most of the survivors our team serves were children and youth during the period of the Holocaust and can relate to the antisemitism their grandchildren are experiencing on college campuses.
“They saw things like this back in Europe, and what is coming up a lot now is, ‘this is how it started for us’” says Anat. “They are very concerned about what may come next.”
Finding Safety
“Our survivors immigrated to the United States, and it’s always been a safe place for them, but they knew that if things got bad here, Israel would always a place of refuge and safety for them,” explains Anat. “If things get bad for them in the States now, they feel that safe place is being attacked and is no longer safe,” she said. “There’s a lot of fear of, ‘where will I go?’”
While there were initially feelings of helplessness among the survivors after October 7th, “it’s very important to talk about the strength, hope and resilience that they possess,” says Anat. “They are so strong, and many now say, ‘we have a long life of experience and knowledge — what can we do? How can we help?’”
This is Exactly the Time to Dance
One way the survivors have been helping one another is at Café Europa. A monthly gathering of Holocaust survivors, Café Europa is a festive event with joyful programming, fun music such as pop and Israeli, dancing, and a Kosher lunch. The fellowship serves as a respite for those who attend and is modeled after the actual Café Europa in Sweden.
“After the Holocaust, Café Europa was a safe place Jewish people would go to try to locate their displaced family members,” explains Amy. “It traveled by word of mouth that it was a safe place where Jewish people could find one another after being separated. Nowadays, it’s a social event that makes space for survivors to connect with one another and is hosted by Jewish agencies worldwide.”
Bebe attends Café Europa when she can. At 95-years-old with a sharp mind and a ready laugh, Bebe is a talented and funny orator who shares her story with synagogues, churches, schools, and various organizations. While she speaks about the Holocaust, she does not let it define her, because as she says, “I have a beautiful life.”
“I have an ear, and I have a shoulder, and both are still good,” offers Bebe, implying that should anyone need to talk or cry, she is there. That sentiment is evident to the HSS team, because while they’ve been supporting the survivors, they’ve felt supported by them, too.
Bebe Forehand in her living room, October 2024
The Effects on Our Team
“The survivors are always checking in and making sure we’re ok, which is so touching,” says Anat. “It means a lot because I’m from Israel, I’m Jewish, much of my family is in Israel, my brother-in-law is in the IDF; this war is hitting from many sides, and the level of anxiety is different for our survivors and for us.”
“There’s an extra layer of vigilance,” continues Anat. “I’m worried, and hyper-aware. I’m walking currently with some survivors whose grandchildren are serving in the IDF as well, and I worry for them; it feels like we’re all family.”
“Nobody prepared mental health professionals for October 7 and what came afterward,” says Anat. “There’s no handbook on how to do this. We weren’t prepared for the events of the last few years, for COVID, for the Tree of Life shooting, Ukraine, now for this — we’re all figuring out how to navigate this and make sure that we provide the right support to our survivors when we are all navigating through this different world now.”
The fear and vigilance have taken a toll now that the war enters a second year. “I feel like I'm becoming numb to it,” Anat explains. “Because it’s brought up all the time, the reality is changing. What was abnormal has become normal.”
“I don’t know that anybody thought we would still be in this a year later,” adds Amy. “There’s a bigger onus on our case managers, and they’re providing extra levels of interaction and support, on top of what they were already doing.”
For the HSS team, support comes from checking in with one another both at JF&CS and beyond and focusing on self-care.
“We are constantly checking in with each other, and we have wider groups of Holocaust teams from other agencies who we have meetings with as well,” says Anat. “We are always reminding each other to care for ourselves, and following up to make sure we’re doing that,” she says. “If we need a break, we take a break, because we are all a team, looking out for each other.”
Ultimately, the Jewish story is one of hope, courage and resilience. The resilience of our survivors brings courage to our HSS team, and the work of the team and wonderful volunteers brings great hope to our survivors. “I have a beautiful life,” reiterates Bebe in closing. “I have so much help and support,” she says as she gestures toward Anat.
As she speaks about her large, happy family, Bebe’s eyes begin to twinkle. “They tried to kill us,” she says. “They tried to keep us down, but they didn’t win.” She smiles as she holds up a framed photo with too many smiling faces to count. “I am happy. Look at these babies, look at my family. They didn’t win.”
You can hear more about the impactful work JF&CS is doing to combat the effects of antisemitism at Community of Giving: A Virtual Gathering on December 3rd (Giving Tuesday) with featured speaker Jonah Platt, actor, artist, and advocate; in conversation with Nadia Bilchik, TV personality, speaker and author. Tickets are available now at communityofgiving.org.