ABSTRACT
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the relationship between emotional cutoff and the functioning of survivors of the Holocaust. It is the assumption of this author that emotional cutoff is a significant factor in the lifetime viability of this population. Emotional cutoff is a concept in Bowen theory that refers to the manner in which emotional process is managed between the generations (Bowen, 1978). Assuming that each individual has some degree of unresolved emotional attachment to his parents, emotional cutoff is observable in all families. Variation in lifetime functioning to some extent represents differences in the way individuals manage the process of emotional cutoff. The manner in which this is accomplished is observable across the generations of each family.
