The Inheritors: Moving Forward from Generational Trauma

The InheritorsBy Gita Arian Baack, PhD…is a book of courage, strength, endurance, and resilience, and one of the most comprehensive books I have ever read.The Holocaust of the Second World War is just one of the many genocides that have occurred and touched generations of people. In this book of hope, Gita Arian Baack, PhD, a counsellor, consultant, team coach, facilitator, author, speaker, and founder of the Centre for Transformational Dialogue, takes us on a journey of understanding compassion. As she reminds us of the importance of speaking our stories, she gives credit and acknowledged awareness of the many who have supplied the scientific proof to our lived experiences and even the historical events which many prefer not to remember. The history of man is one that encompasses both acts of kindness as well as acts of deep refusal to accept the dark side of the reality of humanity.Known for her creative and positive approach, Dr. Arian Baack uses this book to guide and allow the reader to move along on their own, personal journey, from exploring, to speaking, to being witnessed, and finally acknowledging their own, innate wisdom. Throughout the book there are exercises which reinforce the presented material, bringing the unknown to light and shining a path into the future.There are many denouncers of traumatic genocides, and we are reminded that to remain silent has affected many generations, and will continue to affect many more, until we take the courage to speak out and seek retribution through the witnessing of the unimaginable.Dr. Arian Baack is to be applauded for her fortitude in not only following through on her own search; she continues to beckon others to find their own legacies.Reviewed by Dr. Shamai Currim, Psychotherapist, Educator, Educational Consultant

The Inheritors was definitely an interesting read. Baack laid out a compelling case for the need to study and understand generational trauma. If you study trauma she doesn't provide new concepts however she makes the experience of generational personal. This exercise makes the transmission less abstract. I wish chapter 9 and 10 were longer or provided more substance. These 2 chapters are the meat of the book but just felt like a glossary. I would recommend this book over It Didn't Start With You. Baack did a better job discussing the importance of therapy but also acknowledged the cultural approach of healing within a group. I really appreciated the inclusion of Indigenous and Black trauma but the book primarily focused on inheritors of the Holocaust.

This is a good book, and I do recommend, however, I wished there was more science of how the body stores trauma and how it’s passed down. This is more story based.

I came across a copy of The Inheritors - Moving forward from Generational Trauma - by Gita Arian Baack in our public library and couldn't put it down. I feel compelled to quote from the last chapter 'A Final Reflection' which starts as follows: “My conversation with you started with a deep sense of sadness, but also with a determination to find a way to move forward from our inherited cherished burdens, our Inherited trauma. I have chosen to speak in terms of moving forward rather than moving on because moving on means forgetting a painful event and leaving it behind.”By the time readers reach this part of the work, those of us who have been carrying heavy burdens inside our hearts for a long time, will have found advice, enlightenment and encouragement to truly move forward. A must-read for readers who seek explanations and answers to their inherited trauma and who wish to write the first chapters of their new life.

This book is amazing. I’m on a healing journey right now regarding traumas of this lifetime, and I can see how resilience and generational trauma do play into my story. I’m still finishing this book, and I can see already how deeply helpful it is and will be on this journey as I become ready to progress further through it.

The book focuses on the author's generational trauma from the perspective of a second generation survivor of the Holocaust. And in the process addresses generational trauma of other groups - Afro-Americans, indigenous peoples around the globe, sexual abuse victims, perpetrators of violence, witnesses to violence… The Holocaust is so horrific that it makes sense to focus on it. And… it happens to be the author's heritage. But the message is clear. Each and every one of us is affected by generation trauma. And the author makes the point in a clear and compelling manner.This book is a very important resource for all of us - Jewish or not. We are all of us carriers of trauma and the more we face it the more consciously we can navigate our lives. The Inheritors needs to be presented everywhere. I can hardly think of a single group (or person) who would not benefit from this work.

The book has both objective and subjective voice - author fluidly moves between being a participant and observer in conversations recounting family histories. It is a powerful way of showing that parents' trauma manifests in the second generations in the same way across cultures. It is not victims account, it is a book about inherited cellular memory of atrocities that is a part of us but doesn't fully defined us.In a growing recognition of trans-generational trauma, this book unifies human experience and creates cross-cultural platform for the recognition and restoration of broken connections.

Thank you for sharing so much of what I have always felt and known to be my reality. I will reread and share this book with many and do the guided journaling exercises. I feel that this book will help me move forward. It has encouraged me to ask a dying cousin questions about my family. Thank you Gita for your moving book.

Great Book