Social acknowledgement and posttraumatic stress symptoms in response to historical trauma in Poland

I first travelled to Poland in August 2018 as part of a WWII tour of Germany. Upon arrival, it did not take long for me to connect with Poland and her WWII history, a history of incredible suffering, heroism, courage, and after 49 years of oppression, eventual independence, and freedom. I became so engaged with Polish WWII history that I opened my own tour business ‘Poland At War Tours’ in 2023, designed to educate people about the events of WWII in Poland, including the Holocaust. My interest has also led to me commencing a PhD. on Intergenerational Trauma in Poland following WWII, the rationale for which I have outlined in the article below.  

Ahead of the International Congress of Psychology (ICP) in Prague in July 2024, I have teamed up with the APS to offer a 7-day/6-night tour of Poland between 14–20 July. Please consider joining me on this tour that includes lectures from Polish and Ukrainian researchers about trauma in Eastern Poland. For more information, you can contact me on [email protected] or go to the tour page. 

Introduction to the Outbreak of WWII 

On 23 August 1939, the German and Soviet Foreign Ministers signed a non-aggression pact (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) in advance of a planned dual invasion of Poland. Nine days later, at approximately 4.45am on 1 September 1939, the German Naval training battleship Schleswig-Holstein, cleared her guns at the Polish Army barracks on the Westerplatte Peninsular near what is now the Polish city of Gdansk and WWII begun. On 17 September 1939, as Polish troops were regathering in Eastern Poland for a counterattack against German forces, the Soviet Army invaded Poland from the East thereby ending any chance Poland had to repel the German Blitzkrieg. The Polish defences finally capitulated on 6 October 1939, however, Poland never surrendered. The majority of the Polish Army crossed over into Romania and made their way to France where they continued the battle with Allied forces or disappeared underground into the Polish resistance movement, the largest and most effective resistance force in all of WWII. 

By the time WWII ended in 1945, an estimated 65,000,000 people had died throughout the world making it the most destructive event in human history. Prior to WWII, Poland was a multiethnic country with a population of approximately 35,000,000. By the time WWII officially ended in Europe, approximately 6,000,000 Poles had died equating to a loss of approximately 17% of Poland’s pre-war population, a greater loss of life per head of population than any other country that participated in WWII (Davies, 2005). Of the 6,000,000 Poles who perished in WWII, approximately 50% (i.e., 3,000,000) were non-Jewish Poles and 50% (i.e., 3,000,000) being Jewish Poles. Prior to WWII, Poland had the second largest population of Jews in the world (i.e., approximately 3,500,000). The loss of 3,000,000 Polish Jews equated to approximately 86% of the pre-war population of Polish Jews and 50% of the approximately 6,000,000 Jews who died during the Holocaust. Furthermore, approximately 1,800,000 Polish citizens were forcefully deported to Soviet Gulags and 2,300,000 were sent as slave labour into Germany. The Polish Government recently estimated the cost of WWII to Poland as being $1.3 Trillion Euros in terms of loss of life and injury, destruction and theft of property, and loss of land. An anonymous survivor of WWII stated, “sometimes in history you have an eruption of evil that is so archetypal, so demonic, that you can never get it out of your system again” (Oliner & Oliner, 1988, p. no p.).  

Intergenerational trauma research 

In the aftermath of WWII, Israeli researchers and practitioners working with survivors of the Holocaust and their families were the first to begin writing about the phenomenon that we have come to recognise as intergenerational, transgenerational, or historical trauma (IGT). Intergenerational trauma is generally defined whereby succeeding generations born to traumatised survivors of a mass trauma event can experience similar trauma symptomology to the generation who first experienced the trauma. Subsequent generations can also experience other negative health and wellbeing outcomes such as depression, anxiety, alcoholism, and social issues such as relationship and employment difficulties (Rzeszutek et al., 2020). In addition to families of Holocaust survivors, IGT has been identified in other populations who have experienced mass trauma such as First Nations Peoples (Smallwood et al., 2021), African Americans (Graff, 2014), and refugees (Bloch, 2018). 

Theories about transmission 

While the phenomenon of IGT has received widespread recognition, researchers are yet to reach consensus on how IGT is transmitted from one generation to another with a single path to transmission largely ruled out. Rather, based on two systematic reviews that found similar results, it is likely that the mechanism of transmission is one of multi-causality based on parental biological stress vs parental psychopathology (Bowers & Yehuda, 2016; Dashorst et al., 2019). In their 2016 review of IGT transmission, Bowers and Yehuda identified five socio-developmental and biological mechanisms of transmission of IGT: 

1. Learning theory, first proposed by Bandura (1977), whereby children learn to respond to their environment in a similar way that their traumatised parents do. 

2. Children are affected by deficits in their parents’ child rearing abilities as a result of their psychopathology related to their traumatic experience. 

3. Children experience a form of vicarious trauma in learning about or imagining the traumatic events experienced by their parents. 

4. There is potentially a predisposing genetic link between parent and child. 

5. That transmission is biological in that stress or trauma cause changes to the gametes (both male and female), gestational uterine environment, or early postnatal care, thereby subsequently changing offspring biology and therefore offspring outcomes. 

Despite the potential methods of transmission outlined above, isolating the influence of parental biology vs parental behaviour is a continuing research challenge complicated by issues such as birth order, number of siblings, and a shared living environment, making it difficult to delineate between environmental effects and any trauma experienced exclusively by parents (Bower & Yehuda, 2016; Dashorst, et al., 2019). Nonetheless, researchers agree that studying IGT is important for our understanding of how trauma is transmitted from one generation to the next to promote methods to thwart transmission and develop efficacious treatments (Bowers & Yehuda, 2016; Smallwood et al., 2021). 

IGT in Poland following WWII 

Initially, research carried out on the traumatic effects of WWII in Europe focused on concentration camp and Holocaust survivors (Rzeszutek, et al., 2020). However, beginning in the 1990s, several European countries began conducting research on the rates of PTSD among their living populations of WWII survivors. Countries that conducted PTSD research on their WWII survivors included the Netherlands (4.6%; Bramsen & van der Ploeg, 1999), Germany (ranging from 4.0% to 10.9%; Glaesmer, et al., 2010; Kuwert, et al., 2007), Finland (below 10.0%; Hautamäki & Coleman, 2001), Austria (1.9%; Gluck et al., 2012), Norway (no data), and Denmark (no data; Lis-Turlejska et al., 2016). However, several studies conducted in Poland showed the rate of PTSD among WWII survivors to be at least three times higher than the next countries highest rate of PTSD (e.g., Germany 10.9%; Rzeszutek, et al., 2020). 

The first study of PTSD among Polish survivors of WWII indicated that the rate of PTSD was significantly high among both Poles of Jewish decent (55.6%) and non-Jewish Poles (30.9%). For both groups, the traumatic loss of one or both parents during the war increased the likelihood that a participant would experience more severe PTSD, a higher number of PTSD symptoms, higher levels of social isolation, and more severe depression (Lis-Turlejska, et al., 2008). A follow-up study found the rate of PTSD and depression to be similarly high at 29.4% (Lis-Turlejska et al., 2012). A third study found the rate of PTSD and depression among a population of Polish WWII survivors to be 38.3% (Lis-Turljska et al., 2018). Additionally, two studies were conducted specifically of Polish survivors of deportations to Gulags deep in the Soviet Union. Both studies found the prevalence of PTSD among survivors to be 50%, more than 60 years after their experience (Jackowska, 2005; Paszko, 2016).  

Questions and the ‘conspiracy of silence’  

Such high rates of trauma among survivors of WWII in Poland posits two immediate questions: Why is the rate of PTSD among Polish survivors of WWII so much higher than that of other European nations and what effect might those high levels of trauma have had on subsequent generations of Poles? A hypothesis that has gained traction in regard to the high rate of PTSD among Polish WWII survivors is the effect of the brutal Soviet takeover of Poland in the aftermath of WWII leading to what has been termed a ‘conspiracy of silence’ among WWII survivors. With the Soviet takeover, Poles quickly learnt to avoid talking about their war time experiences for fear of oppression and persecution. Rather, Poles learnt to rebuild their lives and nation in silence about the war. 

The idea that a conspiracy of silence could be responsible for the high rates of PTSD among Polish WWII survivors was first suggested by Lis-Turlejska and colleagues (2018) who investigated the role of a lack of social acknowledgement for the experiences of Polish WWII survivors. Rzeszutek et al., (2020) subsequently found that Polish descendants of WWII survivors had lower wellbeing when they reported a higher lack of knowledge about the WWII-related traumatic experiences of their ancestors. Whereas this finding appears counterintuitive, Rzeszutek et al., (2020) posit that not talking about past trauma disrupts family systems in terms of communication and attachment problems.  

Social acknowledgement as a novel transmission method for IGT 

The current IGT research literature has paid little attention to broader social processes, beyond parental influence, that might be implicated in the intergenerational transmission of trauma. For example, the fact that Indigenous peoples continue to be subject to racism and prejudice can maintain and exacerbate their experience of IGT (Vivian & Halloran, 2022). A model that offers some promise in understanding the transmission of IGT from not only a social, but a broader multi-causality perspective, is the Socio-interpersonal Perspectives on PTSD Model (SIPP; Maercker & Horn, 2013). The SIPP Model considers the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and distant social levels in the transmission of IGT (Maercker & Horn, 2013). It is the distant social level that relates to what role social acknowledgement might play in moderating the transmission of IGT. 

The SIPP Model (Maercker & Horn, 2013) provides a framework for understanding the differential role of biological and psychosocial factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of PTSD. In developing their model, Maercker and Horn (2013) reflected on the results of two meta-analyses of psychological factors that predicted PTSD (Brewin et al., 2000; Ozer et al., 2003) wherein the social interpersonal processes and interactions that take place in the aftermath of exposure to a traumatic event are among the best predictors of individual’s developing, or not developing, PTSD (Maercker & Horn, 2013). The proposed SIPP Model therefore situates the individual within three different levels of interpersonal and social processes to understand the influence of each on health and wellbeing in the aftermath of exposure to trauma: the individual, close relationship, and distant social levels.  

At the social level, the SIPP Model is a promising framework for explaining how the effects of trauma exposure may be transferred to the next generation in societies like Poland where PTSD among WWII survivors has been reported as relatively high According to the SIPP Model, undermining the potential for social acknowledgement of collective trauma would be expected to exacerbate trauma-related symptoms (Maercker & Horn, 2013). Nevertheless, whether transmission of IGT relates to a lack of social acknowledgment of WWII trauma in Poland remains an open question.  

Research aims and conclusion 

How IGT is transmitted from one generation to the next remains unresolved within the literature, although, evidence suggests that it is an issue of multi-causality. The aim of my research project is to build on existing IGT knowledge about the role of social psychological processes such social acknowledgement in the transmission of trauma. Whereas a significant amount of research on the transmission of IGT a has been conducted with families of Holocaust survivors, both in Israel and abroad, there has been little complimentary research within the general population of descendants of WWII. It is intended that studying the experiences of Polish descendants of WWII survivors will contribute to the generalisability of IGT research findings.   

If trauma can be prevented from being transmitted from one generation to the next, or even minimised, the burden of negative psychological and wellbeing outcomes from historical trauma can be minimised within future generations (Dashorst et al., 2019). As such, research is important from the perspective of developing effective treatments for populations where IGT is pervasive within society. My focus on the role of social acknowledgement in the transmission of IGT is intended to contribute knowledge and direction to institutions, policies, health practitioners, and social movements, as a pathway to relieving the burden of historical trauma on future generations.  

For more information about the tour, you can contact me on [email protected] or go to the tour page. 

References 

Bandura A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice Hall.  

Bloch, A. (2018). Talking about the past, locating it in the present: The second generation from refugee backgrounds making sense of their parents’ narratives, narrative gaps and silences. Journal of Refugee Studies, 31(4), 647–663.  

Bowers, M. E., & Yehuda, R. (2016). Intergenerational transmission of stress in humans. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(1), 232-244. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.247 

Bramsen, I., & van der Ploeg, H. M. (1999). Fifty years later: the long-term psychological adjustment of ageing World War II survivors. Acta Psychiatr. Scand, 100. 330–358.  

Dashorst, P., Mooren, T. M., Kleber, R. J., de Jong, P. J., & Rafaele J. C. Huntjens, R. J. C. (2019). Intergenerational consequences of the Holocaust on offspring mental health: A systematic review of associated factors and mechanisms. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 10(1), 1654065, DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2019.1654065 

Davies, N. (2005). God’s playground a history of Poland: Volume II: 1795 to the present. Columbia University Press. 

Glaesmer, H., Gunzelmann, T., Braehler, E, Forstmeister, S., & Maercker, A. (2010). Traumatic experiences and post-traumatic stress disorder among elderly Germans: Results of a representative population- based survey. Int. Psychogeriatr, 22(4). 661–670. 

Glück, T. M., Tran, U. S., & Lueger-Schuster, B. (2012). PTSD and trauma in Austria’s elderly: influence of wartime experiences, postwar zone of occupation, and lifetime traumatization on today’s mental health status—an interdisciplinary approach. European. Journal of Psychotraumatol, 3(10).  

Graff, G. (2014). The intergenerational trauma of slavery and its aftermath. The Journal of Psychohistory, 41(3), 181-197. 

Hautamäki, A., & Coleman, P.G. (2001). Explanation for low prevalence of PTSD among older Finnish war veterans: social solidarity and continued significance given to wartime sufferings, Aging & Mental Health, 5(2). 165-174. DOI: 10.1080/13607860120038348 

Jackowska, E. (2005). Psychiczne następstwa deportacji w głąb ZSRR w ocenie Sybiraków [Psychological consequences of deportation into the Soviet Union on the base of self-reports by Sybiracs]. Psychiatria Polska, 1, 89–102.  

Kuwert. P., Spitzer, C., Träder, A., Freyberger, H. J., & Ermann, M. (2007). Sixty years later: Post-traumatic stress symptoms and current psychopathology in former German children of World War II. Int. Psychogeriatr, 19. 955–961. 

Lis-Turlejska, M., Luszczynska, A., Plichta, A., & Benight, C. (2008). Jewish and non-Jewish World War II child and adolescent survivors at 60 years after war: Effects of parental loss and age at exposure on well-being. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78(3). 369–377.  

Lis-Turlejska, M., Łuszczyńska, A., & Szumial, S. (2016). PTSD prevalence among Polish World War II survivors. Psychiatria Polska, 50(5), 923-934. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/60171 

Lis-Turlejska, M., Szumiał, S., & Drapała, I. (2018). Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Polish World War II survivors: The role of social acknowledgement. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 9(1). 1-10. DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2018.1423831  

Lis-Turlejska, M., Szumiał, Sz., & Okuniewska, H. (2012). Aktualny poziom objawów stresu potraumatycz- nego w próbie osób, które w dzieciństwie przeżyły II wojnę światową. Psychiatr. Pol, 46(2). 145–156. 

Maercker, A. & Horn, A. B. (2013). A socio-interpersonal perspective on PTSD: The case for environments and interpersonal processes. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 20, 465-481. DOI: 10.1002/cpp.1805 

Oliner, S. P., & Oliner, P. M. (1988). The Altruistic Personality: Rescuers of Jews in nazi Europe. Free Press: New York. 

Paszko, E. (2016). Znaczenie społecznego uznania traumy w przebiegu PTSD wśród osób, które zostały wywie- zione podczas II wojny światowej na tereny byłego ZSRR [Social acknowledegment of trauma and PTSD prevalence among the persons deported to the USRR during the World War II] (Unpublished MA thesis). SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Warsaw. 

Rzeszutek, M., Lis-Turlejska, M., Pięta, M., Karlsen, M., Backus, H., Florek, W., Lisowska, K., Pankowski, D., & Szumial, S. (2020). Knowledge about traumatic World War II experiences among ancestors and subjective well- being of young adults: A person-centred perspective. PLoS ONE, 15(8). https:// doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237859  

Smallwood, R., Woods, C., Power, T., & Usher, K. (2021). Understanding the impact of historical trauma due to colonization on the health and well-being of indigenous young peoples: A systematic scoping review. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 32, 59-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659620935955 

Vivian, A., & Halloran, M. J. (2022). Dynamics of the policy environment and trauma in relations between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the settler-colonial state. Critical Social Policy, 42(4), 626–647. https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183211065701