Validating Selfhood: Holocaust Survivor Communities and Experiential Kin in Postwar Britain

Those who survived the Holocaust settled predominantly, but not exclusively, in Israel, the United States, Canada, South America and, to a far lesser extent, Britain and other countries. This thesis will examine individuals who resided in Britain after the war and the organisations that they formed. It will consider how three survivor associations, the '45 Aid Society, Association of Jewish Refugees and the Child Survivors' Association of Great Britain, which mainly consisted of young survivors aged twenty-one and under in 1945, fostered validation for individuals. These organisations became communities for survivors and an example of 'experiential kin', where shared experiences lead to strong bonds and a sense of belonging. This thesis will reflect on how communities can be defined within these contexts and whether these were able to act as surrogate families for individual survivors as they developed in a postwar context. It also explores how a survivor can be defined, the hierarchies of suffering that form in response to fluid definitions, the role of the second generation and how survivors interpret current events through the lens of their experiences whilst maintaining composure in order to argue that the attainment of validation is a central quest for survivors.

This thesis utilises a mixed methodology stemming primarily from newly conducted oral histories with Holocaust survivors in order to contextualise the origins of these communities and situate these groups into wider British society and cultural discourses. A key conclusion that this thesis draws is the importance of being considered a survivor within these groups and the significance of shared identity and belonging. This manifests through the central theme in this thesis of validation, where survivors seek to not just have their identities accepted as 'valid', but also their memories. Somewhat paradoxically, this aligns with a desire to remain 'in the background' and to be free to pursue their identities outside of their status as a survivor.