The impact of the Holocaust on the second generation: Norwegian Jewish Holocaust survivors and their children.

The entire population of Norwegian-born Jews who survived the German concentration camps and their children was examined, and compared to Norwegian-born Jews who escaped to Sweden, and their children. An attempt is made to look for the symptoms described as a "second generation syndrome" by several authors. The present findings do not support the presence of serious psychopathology among the children of Norwegian-born Jewish survivors as a group, but indicate a certain degree of psychological vulnerability among these children. As adults, they are more often engaged in health/social care professions and organizations and also show signs of greater assimilation to their non-Jewish surroundings than the comparison group.