More Than Mazel? Luck and Agency in Surviving the Holocaust
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Keywords
agency, collaborative witnessing, Holocaust, Jewish resistance, luck
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2012.738574
Abstract
The canonical explanation for how Jews survived during the Holocaust involves some form of luck. To explore and deepen an understanding of episodic moments of luck, this article presents and discusses survivor Jerry Rawicki's close calls with death during the Holocaust. The first author examines Jerry's perspective as a survivor and her own perspective as a collaborative witness to his stories, as well as how these stories fit together within the broader literature about luck and survival. She suggests possible consequences of regarding luck as the sole explanation of survival and contends that agency and luck can go hand in hand even under oppressive structural conditions, such as the Holocaust. She concludes by reflecting on why Jerry and she might understand survival differently and on the importance of considering both positions in compassionate collaborative research.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Loss and Trauma: International Perspectives on Stress & Coping, v. 19, issue 2, p. 99-120
Scholar Commons Citation
Ellis, Carolyn and Rawicki, Jerry, "More Than Mazel? Luck and Agency in Surviving the Holocaust" (2014). Communication Faculty Publications. 291.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/spe_facpub/291
