Trauma, Memory, and the Art of Survival - with Gabriella Y. Karin

How does artistic creativity aid Holocaust survivors in processing memories of oppression, persecution, and loss? This question is not only of interest to psychologists concerned with resilience; it is also raised, at least implicitly, by many Holocaust survivor testimonies. The life story of Gabriella Y. Karin offers important insight into trauma and the fraught means by which it may be worked through. As an eleven-year old, Gabriella was placed in a Catholic convent in Bratislava, Slovakia where she remained for three years, physically safe but separated from her parents. Although her family survived the war, Karin did not emerge unscathed from hiding. Suppressed memories of her past came flooding back once she began to fashion sculptures dealing with the Holocaust. Despite the emotional difficulties associated with revisiting her youth, Karin regularly talks in schools and synagogues. She is a docent at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and participates in the Righteous Conversations Project which unites survivors and students through the medium of art.

• 2020-06-03

• Karin, Gabriella Y.

• Epstein, Dan
• Epstein, Phyllis

• UCSD-TV (Television station : La Jolla, Calif.)

Sponsored by Phyllis and Daniel Epstein

• Art
• History
• Holocaust, Jewish (19391945)
• Jews
• Memory
• Trauma
• World War, 1939-1945

• video

• English

• UC Regents

Under copyright (US)

Use: This work is available from the UC San Diego Library. This digital copy of the work is intended to support research, teaching, and private study.

Constraint(s) on Use: This work is protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use of this work beyond that allowed by "fair use" or any license applied to this work requires written permission of the copyright holder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and any use and distribution of this work rests exclusively with the user and not the UC San Diego Library. Inquiries can be made to the UC San Diego Library program having custody of the work.

UC San Diego Library, UC San Diego, La Jolla, 92093-0175 (https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/contact)

2024-02-15