ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the phenomenon of delayed mourning due to migration, both on an individual level and on a societal level. It first describes the phenomenon of delayed mourning for primary objects due to migration on an individual level, basing it on a therapeutic encounter between a patient who had just emigrated from Romania to Israel and a Romanian-born Israeli analyst. It then examines the unresolved mourning of Romanian society, which was transplanted from one culture to another by means of its transition from Communist dictatorship to post-Communist era – another form of migration. This unresolved mourning was also expressed through the longing of many Romanians for their infamous leader, Nicolae Ceausescu, who functioned as a mental representation of a father figure. The longing is an indication that his followers internalised his image, and therefore found it difficult to relinquish their identification with Ceausescu long after he had been executed.
