ABSTRACT
Adolescent survivors were far from tabulae rasae going into the war. To understand their postwar adaptation, it is important first to understand their prewar lives, experiences, and coping skills. In fact, the survivors who were between 12 and 18 when the Holocaust interrupted their lives already had a well-stocked arsenal of coping strategies and protective factors in place that helped them survive and rebuild after the war. The Transcending Trauma Project (TTP) interviews provide us with much useful information regarding what I call the “arsenal of self.” This tool kit of coping strategies and protective factors included secure attachments and loyalty to parents, siblings, or other caring adults; religious belief systems and moral values learned from parents and grandparents; various forms of social support; a strong sense of group identity; a perceived sense of self-efficacy; and an exposure to traumatic events and losses that served as a source of “stress inoculation” (Meichenbaum, 2009) going into the Holocaust years.
