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Men who survived the Holocaust live longer than other Jewish men of the same age who did not go through the hell of the Nazi death camps, new research has revealed. Researchers from Haifa University in Israel found a phenomenon known as 'post-traumatic growth' enabled Holocaust survivors to develop enhanced 'personal and inter-personal skills'.
As a result, male survivors lived up to 18 months longer than Jewish peers who were not confined to concentration camps during the war.
Men who survived the Holocaust live longer than other Jewish men of the same age who escaped cruel treatment at camps such as Auschwitz, a new study reveals. Researchers from Haifa University found 'post-traumatic growth' enabled Holocaust survivors to develop enhanced personal and inter-personal skills
The study of more than 55,220 Polish Jews found men and women who escaped before Hitler started his campaign of terror had an average life expectancy 6.5 months shorter than those who made it to Israel between the armistice and 1950.
Study leader, Professor Avi Sagi-Schwartz, from the Department of Psychology at Haifa University in Israel, said he was 'surprised' by the finding that male survivors lived for up to 18 months longer.
He said: 'Holocaust survivors not only suffered grave psychosocial trauma but also famine, malnutrition, and lack of hygienic and medical facilities, leading us to believe these damaged their later health and reduced life expectancy.
Male Holocaust survivors lived up to 18 months longer than Jewish peers who were not confined to concentration camps during the war - a finding that 'surprised' study leader, Professor Avi Sagi-Schwartz. Here, prisoners are photographed on a death march from Dachau in 1945
WHAT'S POST-TRAUMATIC GROWTH?
- Post-traumatic growth refers to positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances
- Circumstances might include: life threatening illness, war, abuse, immigration or deaths of loved ones
- These sets of circumstances represent significant hurdles to the adaptive resources of the individual and challenge their way of understanding the world and their place in it
- Post-traumatic growth is not simply a return to baseline from a period of suffering but is instead it is an experience of improvement that for some persons is deeply meaningful
- People experiencing post-traumatic growth might have a greater appreciation of life, changed sense of priorities, more intimate relationships, greater sense of personal strength, and recognition of new possibilities or paths for their life and spiritual development
A common belief among scientists is that psychological trauma shortens life expectancy by damaging the victims's DNA by shortening their 'chromosome ends' which control the lifespan of cells in the body.
This inspired the research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, which is the first of its kind to use the official database of the National Insurance Institute of Israel to look at the entire Jewish population who emigrated before and after World War Two.
It compared Holocaust survivors who were between four and 20-years-old when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and found that among the women there was 'no significant difference' among the female population of Holocaust survivors.
However, among the men who survived Hitler's mass extermination, life expectancy was 14 months longer than the refugees who escaped.
'Surprisingly, our findings teach us of the strength and resilience of the human spirit'.
A common belief among scientists is that psychological trauma shortens life expectancy by damaging the victims's DNA by shortening their 'chromosome ends' which control the lifespan of cells in the body.
The appalling treatment of Holocaust victims at camps such as Birkenau (pictured) caused many scientists to think that the later health of concentration camp survivors would be damaged and their DNA shortened. But the new study shows 'the strength and resilience of the human spirit' the researchers said
Professor Sagi-Schwartz said: 'Men who were 10 to 15-years-old during the war and in their early adolescence had a 10 month longer life-expectancy, compared to the comparison group.
'Men who lived through the Holocaust when they were 16 to 20, had an even bigger difference in life-expectancy, 18 months longer than their peers with no Holocaust experience.
'The results of this research give us hope and teach us quite a bit about the resilience of the human spirit when faced with brutal and traumatic events.'
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