Raised By Survivors

[Felicia1066]

Falkner surrendered her pasta. She hadn't cared for it, still didn't later, when she crept out of bed at midnight to eat the rest cold, but nobody raised by survivors ever dared waste food.

.... Oh, Esther.

"I'm hungry," Susannah whispered, and buried her face in her terrible, Auschwitz knees.

So we have a survivor mention and an Auschwitz mention in the same episode, one which is mostly told from the POV of the team's Jewish member. That's a pretty clear hint. (If you can even call it just a hint.) But after the punch-in-the-gut feeling faded enough to let me breathe again, my logical brain kicked in.

The bio for Esther Falkner gives her age as 41. I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that these ages are for the start of the show, which means March 2007 - so Falkner would've been born in 1966 or 65. Since the youngest that were brought into the concentration camps were sixteen, that would make her birth pretty late for a child of Auschwitz survivors, especially since she mentions a younger sister. Still possible, of course. Sixteen in 1945 would mean 36 in 1965, after all. But - perhaps the survivors who raised her were not her parents? Could be grandparents, aunt and uncle... (She has adopted a child herself. Perhaps because she was raised by someone other than her birth parents?) Or it's just that her grandparents were present enough in her life that she'd think of them as having had a hand in raising her.

Not that it matters, really. It's her view of the situation that's relevant, her truth that has shaped who she is.

[jennygadget]

Since the youngest that were brought into the concentration camps were sixteen...

  A survivor came to speak to my school when I was in jr. high - about 1990? - and she talked about being a small child in the camps.  Probably more elementary age than preschool age, but from what she described she definitely didn't mean teenaged.  I don't remember how long she was in the camps, however, and therefore how old she was when she was in 1945.

that would make her birth pretty late for a child of Auschwitz survivors, ...Sixteen in 1945 would mean 36 in 1965, after all.

Do you mean pretty late because Auschwitz survivors usually had children before they turned 36? Or pretty late because people didn't wait until they were 36 to have kids back in 1965?

[Felicia1066]

Since the youngest that were brought into the concentration camps were sixteen...

  A survivor came to speak to my school when I was in jr. high - about 1990? - and she talked about being a small child in the camps.  Probably more elementary age than preschool age, but from what she described she definitely didn't mean teenaged.  I don't remember how long she was in the camps, however, and therefore how old she was when she was in 1945.

Huh. I've always heard sixteen. The survivor who spoke to us in my school made a point of mentioning how he was among the very youngest - since he was only brought to Auschwitz six weeks or so before the end, and was sixteen at the time - and after he and his contemporaries were gone, it was up to us to make sure it was never forgotten. Maybe different camps?

that would make her birth pretty late for a child of Auschwitz survivors, ...Sixteen in 1945 would mean 36 in 1965, after all.

Do you mean pretty late because Auschwitz survivors usually had children before they turned 36? Or pretty late because people didn't wait until they were 36 to have kids back in 1965?

I meant that 36 is the youngest they could have been, and that seemed pretty late for the time, especially if it wasn't the last child. I don't know anything about the specific procreational habits of survivors. But I can actually see that it might take a while to convince yourself to bring a child into a world that could let something like the camps happen.... Or it could just be that they didn't meet each other until that late. Or, you know, maybe only one of Esther's parents was actually in a camp. If, say, her father was in Auschwitz, and her mother was more a general survivor of the war, they could be any age.


Also, I've realized that this adds yet another layer to Falkner's fury towards Reyes over Chaz. Knowing that someone was on the edge of starvation and doing nothing? I can just hear the echoes: everybody who stood back and let people starve (among other things) in the camps without doing anything to stop it from happening....

[jennygadget]

Maybe different camps?

That's what I was thinking.  From what I vaguely remember of that unit in English class (I dunno why English class, except that we also read The Diary of Anne Frank and Night), different camps had slightly different...purposes?....and so slightly different populations.  Part of why Auschwitz is the name everyone remembers is because it was (one of?) the largest and the way your speaker described it: populated by only younger to middle aged adults who were usually murdered fairly quickly after arriving.   Especially later in the war, and especially if one was not able to work. They were all work/death camps, but Auschwitz most of all.

I meant that 36 is the youngest they could have been...

I thought that's what you meant.  I just wanted to make sure before I replied:  No, it's not.  Although the average age of survivors in 1965 would have been much older than 36.  So I think your idea of Esther being raised by grandparents/older aunt/uncle (either instead of or in addition to her parents) is a good and likely theory.

Also, I've realized that this adds yet another layer to Falkner's fury towards Reyes over Chaz. Knowing that someone was on the edge of starvation and doing nothing? I can just hear the echoes: everybody who stood back and let people starve (among other things) in the camps without doing anything to stop it from happening....

Oh dear GOD.  You are so right.

Faulkner's "obey the chain of command" training and the "always ask questions/say something"* training are NOT getting along right now.

*this is what the survivor that spoke to my school talked about the most, in addition to the horrific stories.  I don't know if this is typical of survivors or not, but I'm assuming so, since it was one of the themes of Night as well.

(edited bc I keep forgetting to use the right keys for the tags. and to clarify. and for punctuation)

[Felicia1066]

I wonder if, during her military career, Falkner was ever stationed in Germany.

[el_jefe]

I wonder if, during her military career, Falkner was ever stationed in Germany.

As an Army troop, that is very likely.