The First Question of the Research

1. What were the motivational factors that stimulated H.Ss to build a new successful life? This research question examined the factors that challenged the Survivors to continue liv- ing and to succeed in their lives. This question arose from the desire to understand how people that experienced a severe trauma, lost everything they cherished, including family, friends, and property, succeeded despite all expectations to rise from the ashes and func- tion again.

In order to understand all the factors identified from the interviews with Survivors regard- ing their success in life, I will first try to examine the definition of success and life suc- cess as perceived by the Survivors.

10.2.1 Success (a successful life).

The findings chapter shows that some of the Survivors believed that they had no other option but to succeed. Shraga says: "… my approach that we came from sand and ashes

but we can and must succeed in spite of everything. I came to Israel in order to succeed it was so, to all it was important, to start a new life…” This statement may point out to

the belief that they had to continue living. Perhaps they wanted to live to tell what hap- pened to them. Maybe it was due to their belief in their invincibility, their ability to cope with suffering and to face the future, as they did up until that point. Another possibility is that being successful has enabled them to suppress the memories. The interviews show that they never even considered the option not coping.

Nelson (1999) says that our decision making process depends on our beliefs, which are the reason we have to challenge them. We have to know a belief is what we act upon, and more often than not, what we assume as fact. Other studies show that high self-value helps to efficiently cope with failures (Abouserie, 1994). The Survivors tended to refer to themselves as successful people. Some indicated their success in raising families, while others described financial success, success in fulfilling their roles, and in helping others. Some claim that the goal of immigration to Israel was a first and foremost condition for success. Roza and Miriam said: “We feel that we have fulfilled our dreams successfully.

We are content, happy, living with a loving family that we made, surrounded by grand- children and grand grandchildren.” Shy: "What is success in my eyes? To rise a family

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and a good, secure financial base."

Some of the Survivors thought that the only place to be after the Holocaust is in a country of their own, where nobody will ever persecute them again. Shraga: “I wanted to feel

closeness to a family living in Israel.”

Yoram: "I was looking for a place to plant roots, to be safe and to belong to people." Others wanted to prove to the world and to the Germans that no one will be able to ex- terminate them. This was how they showed their defiance against anti-Semitism. Their assumption was that force and success deter others.

The more successful you are, the greater a threat you will become to some. Your chal- lenge will be to optimally manage your relationships to support your accomplishments and to disarm those who would sabotage you (Austin 2000). Some say that they fulfilled their dreams successfully. However, people’s dreams differ from one another. They are not uniform and they meet different needs. The interviews show that many of the Survi- vors refer to success not only being ideological and significant to their spiritual life, but also as a means of survival. For some, success means not only economic, professional, and academic success but predominantly success over poverty and lack of independence. It is possible, as shown by the literature, that the need to succeed derives from the need to adapt, the desire to be as all others. Success might be a sort of mask to hide the pain and the sorrow, because they do present a happy front to the outside world. Yonit says:

"There was no sense in this in spite of there is a fear that maybe there will be a Holocaust again."

Not having found meaning and purpose in life leads to an existential void. Laing (1965) said that the unauthentic existence leads, in certain situations, to a split between the real me and the fake me and to identity problems entailing pathological anxieties. Some re- ported that they invested a lot in their work. Azrie: “I was busy with working all the

time.” Yoram says: "I know what strength it takes to rise up from the ashes. And I can say that keeping busy is the best cure." It was important for them to be rooted and to suc-

ceed financially in order to create a secure environment for their families.

It is possible that the Survivors’ definition of success varies according to their different personalities. Some researchers believe that success and failures are partially due to per- sonality features.

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Bandura (1997) refers to the expectations or standpoints of the person regarding his abili- ties to perform certain tasks. These concepts are similar to perceived ability, perceived competence, self-perception, self-creation, and empowerment. The concept that is oppo- site to perceived ability is helplessness. The central idea is that the person's motivation for an activity depends on his ability to perform it successfully. If a person perceives himself as capable, he will be motivated to carry it out and make efforts to overcoming failures.

This variation in ability perception may explain the variation in the meaning of success. Some Survivors describe success as a sort of continuous fight against the Holocaust and the Nazis, a struggle of force, stating: "We are stronger than you in our spirit, you did not

succeed in exterminating us" For others, success is a mix of gloating and vengeance: "…there was no other alternative…" Some people believe that the person's desire to take

revenge is because he wants to feel good and vengeance makes him feel better, as he feels that justice was made, the truth was known and the evil doers were punished, (Nussbaum, 1996). Maybe success and the ability to prove to the world that the Nazis did not succeed in exterminating him also increase the Survivor's self-value. Self-value is the central standpoint of the person on himself. The nature of this standpoint is set by the success and failures, how they are explained, and to what causes they are contributed. Neverthe- less, regardless of the attribution of causality, the person tends to keep his positive self- value Bandura (1997). Sometimes there is a combination of causes that changes over time. From the struggle of the initial years due to a show of force and statement such as:

"we will not surrender" all the way to the fulfilment of dreams. From expressing wishes

all the way to the ability to prove the world that "We succeeded." The testimonies show that some of them needed to succeed for survival purposes, to ensure that they will be able to provide for their families and be able to prevent another Holocaust.

Another way to express success and a feeling of security was reflected in the ability of some of the Survivors who were interviewed, to share their past experiences with their children. The Survivors said that in the last years, a supportive atmosphere was created to share the subject of the Holocaust, along with the questions raised by the second gen- eration.

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Yonit: "I started to speak about the Holocaust with my children. I felt that it was an im-

portant goal to let them know. The people who lived here in Israel could not understand that the H.Ss could return to normal lives and so when they started to ask me questions, I told them almost everything, chapter after chapter”.

It is noteworthy that some of them felt the need to succeed out of competitiveness and their will to be more successful than others.

Helmreich's findings suggest that some Survivors of the Holocaust not only managed to resume their lives but tended to be more successful than other American Jews of compa- rable ages. Helmreich believes that traits that enabled them to survive their experience, like adaptability, initiative and tenacity, may also account for their later success. (Helmreich, 1992).

We can explain the need for success also as a compensation for the suffering, the material loss and the loss of relatives. According to the behaviorist psychoanalysis, attributing a heavy weight to social norms, mental health is defined according to the person's adapta- tion to his environment (Lang 1985; Freud 1920, 1988;

Sartre 1946). The person wears a mask in order to be accepted by his environment "as

everybody." The excellence to reach success is mainly driven by the need to achieve.

The need for success is universal and is based on the assumption that man is willing by nature to devote himself and make efforts, provided that he perceives his actions as suc- cessful.

In the classical psychology literature, the need for achievement is presented as one of the main needs driving the person (McClelland, 1953). The external drive corresponds to a system of external rewards such as money, or security from punishment (Zimmerman, 1985).

In this research, success has many facets. This is due to a variety of factors, and can be explained in different ways.

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