ABSTRACT
Eretz-Israeli documentary cinema has dealt with Holocaust survivors since 1945. Nevertheless, the perception of time in these films had changed drastically over time. This article focuses on the perception of time in Second Generation Holocaust survivor documentaries since the 1980s: Because of That War [Biglal hamilhama hazot, Orna Ben-Dor, 1988], Daddy Come to the Fair [Abale bo lalunapark, Nitza Gonen, 1993], Choice and Destiny [Habhira v’hagoral, Tsipi Reibenbach, 1994], Pizza in Auschwitz [Pizza b’Auschwitz, Moshe Zimerman, 2008], and Six Million and One [Shisha Million ve’ehad, David Fisher, 2011]. Based on the theoretical notions of secondary traumatic stress and the transgenerational transfer of trauma, it shows how these films reflect a perception that time has stood still for the survivors and their children although outwardly they live their Israeli lives. The films depict two contradictory trajectories in the protagonists’ lives: a linear chronological and a circular movement, in which the past never lessens its grip.
