Holocaust remembrance honors victims and explores intergenerational trauma

During a Holocaust remembrance in Gouda, Asjer Waterman shared the history of the Monnikkendam family. The family, including Maurits, a baker, and Esther, who produced kosher cheese, lived behind the Vismarkt. A former domestic worker, Annie Pater-Verkerk, recalled their lives and their interactions with the local Jewish community before they were lost to the war. Maurits and Esther were murdered in Sobibor, while their sons, Leon and Hartog, died in Auschwitz.

In a separate reflection on wartime legacy, scientist Jaap Goudsmit examines the impact of intergenerational trauma. As a professor of epidemiology, Goudsmit uses a scientific lens to investigate how the experiences of parents who lost much of their family during World War II affect subsequent generations. His work explores whether the trauma of the Holocaust persists through third-generation descendants and how it shapes individual life choices.