Holocaust survivors who were children during WW II have now reached the age
of 52 to 67. Until about 10 years ago their voices were barely heard in so
ciety. Their successful adaptation to life may have contributed to this inv
isibility. However, reaching this stage of life, which is associated with t
he need to review life and with the crises of retirement and renewed losses
, has activated the survivors to deal with their childhood. The impossibili
ty of avoiding traumatic memories and an urge to deal with them have also c
ontributed to the societal process of the survivors organizing and speaking
out. Very little is known about this group with regard to their mental hea
lth status and the way they cope with their childhood memories. The present
controlled double-blind study uses a randomized nonclinical sample and foc
uses on the level of psychosocial and post-traumatic symptoms, on achieveme
nt motivation, and on the way child survivors perceive the surrounding worl
d. The results indicate a slightly higher level of psychosocial symptoms in
the child survivors group (CS) than in the control group, a high level of
post-traumatic symptomatology, and achievement motivation based mainly on t
he fear of failure. Surprisingly, the child survivors group shows a pattern
of more positive views of the world than does the control group. This can
be understood as a greater need to compensate for the lack of security suff
ered in childhood by creating a meaningful world in a chaotic reality.