ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will describe how in addition to rescuers helping survivors in the Holocaust, survivors helped themselves-including children who took action on their own behalf as well as helping their families. The chapter is in part about the heroism of the survivors. It will include some qualitative data from a few child survivors who have described such actions. I will then discuss how such courageous actions affected the personality and later life of the survivors. I will consider how such actions would moderate the traumatic impact of the threat to their lives, how it would help to make the impact of trauma partly growthful, and contribute to the strength that most survivors have shown in their later lives. I will briefly discuss altruism born of suffering-how caring about and helping others can develop from past victimization, especially when combined with certain other experiences. Survivors receiving help from others and helping themselves or other people are both among the experiences that I propose to promote altruism born of suffering.
