The Silence: How Tragedy Shapes Talk

by Ruth Wajnryb

Silence is often the most powerful form of communication and it is silence that still dominates the homes of Holocaust survivors and their families, even after half a century. Through interviews with children of survivors, this book explores communication in survivor families from the perspective of the postwar generation. Explaining the effects of trauma on communication, this book offers an understanding of the language of silence that often becomes the first step to healing. This book also touches on different types of trauma, such as the loss of a family member and survivors of child abuse.

368 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Yael Shahar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Silence deals with, among other things, the impact of trauma on speech, and particularly communication between generations. I first read this book while attempting to deal with my own inability to speak about traumatic memory, and found it extremely helpful--not so much in helping me to speak, but simply in showing me that the inability to do so is normal.

Wajnryb writing is clear and personal, and the fact that the impetus for the book comes from her own experience gives the book a sense of purpose. It should be helpful to the children and grandchildren of holocaust survivors, and to anyone who struggles with traumatic memory.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is generally good and I think the topic is very important/relevant, and Wajnryb's findings ring true with communication patterns I have myself witnessed. I would recommend it to people who have struggled to communicate about trauma, either as a teller or a listener. However, sometimes her arguments are not clearly organized; the thoughts wander about and there is a significant amount of repetition that is not always directly related to the current point being made. References to fiction are intermingled with facts from interviews, and though she argues for the validity of this in the appendix, I think it should have been clarified and argued with more detail at the beginning of the book.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally identified with this book having lived through it myself. Also listened to the author talk a few times. 2nd generation Holocaust survivors lived with this or the opposite...constantly told what happened during the war and how lucky the next generation was.