Shamai Davidson
Encyclopedia
Shamai Davidson was an Israeli professor, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, who spent 30 years working with Holocaust survivors, trying to understand the nature of their experience. He was Medical Director of Shalvata Mental Health Centre and served as Head of the Elie Wiesel
Chair for the Study of the Psycho-Social Trauma of the Holocaust.
Davidson witnessed the Nazi terror and the death of his aunts and cousins in the Warsaw Ghetto
, Łódź Ghetto, and the gas chambers of Treblinka. He studied medicine at the University of Glasgow
and in Oxford University Medical School. In 1979 he became the co-founder of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide
along with Israel W. Charny and Elie Wiesel
, and worked as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, treating Holocaust survivors, until his death.
Davidson is best known for his work Holding on to Humanity which he started in 1972. According to Jerusalem Post, "In this intensely fascinating book, Davidson succeeds in conveying a systematic understanding of trauma and survival as a whole, while emphasizing individual difference."
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
Chair for the Study of the Psycho-Social Trauma of the Holocaust.
Davidson witnessed the Nazi terror and the death of his aunts and cousins in the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
, Łódź Ghetto, and the gas chambers of Treblinka. He studied medicine at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
and in Oxford University Medical School. In 1979 he became the co-founder of the Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide
Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide
The Institute on the Holocaust and Genocide was founded in Jerusalem, in 1979, by Israeli scholars Israel W. Charny, Shamai Davidson and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel....
along with Israel W. Charny and Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
, and worked as a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, treating Holocaust survivors, until his death.
Davidson is best known for his work Holding on to Humanity which he started in 1972. According to Jerusalem Post, "In this intensely fascinating book, Davidson succeeds in conveying a systematic understanding of trauma and survival as a whole, while emphasizing individual difference."