Surviving the Holocaust:   A Psychoanalyst Remembers

Tuesday, October 19th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm (central time) 

Location: ZOOM
https://icsw.zoom.us/j/6410482572
Passcode: 98463

Ben Garber will talk about the stressful, dangerous period of his childhood in which he and his mother hid from and fled from the Nazis.  Ben grew up in Vilnius, then part of Poland, now part of Lithuania.  In 1941 the Germans herded the Jews, including Ben, four years old, and his mother, into a ghetto.  His father was in the Polish army and died, but Ben never was able to learn of the circumstances.  Ben and his mother lived in the ghetto under horrendous conditions and then escaped.  The majority of Jews who remained in the ghetto were murdered in death camps.  For 11 months, Ben and his mother hid out in a cellar with a small group of Jews.  Finally, in 1944 they were liberated by the Soviet army and eventually made it to the United States.  Ben Garber, in addition to describing these experiences, will discuss the consequences of childhood trauma and various factors contributing to resilience.

Benjamin Garber, MD, is a member of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society and a faculty member at the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute.  He has a practice as a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist and treats children and adults.  At the Institute, he has held major positions, such as Chair of the Curriculum Committee and Chair of the Adolescent Committee.  In addition to coediting the 2009 edition of the Annual of Psychoanalysis on “Psychoanalysis and Children,” Dr. Garber has published several journal articles and two books.  His recent book, A Child of the Ghetto: A Memoir, covers the period of his talk and beyond. The book is available from Amazon.

Eva F. Lichtenberg, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist in private practice, a member of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society, and the former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute.  She received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago.  Like Ben Garber, Eva Lichtenberg survived the Holocaust.  At the age of 5, she fled Czechoslovakia with her parents.  Ever in danger, they spent 3 years hiding and traveling through Europe and Russia before finally boarding a ship from Japan to the United States.

After attending this session, participants should be able to: 

• Describe various consequences of traumatic experiences in childhood. 
• Identify factors that contribute to a child developing resilience.