ABSTRACT
One of the key questions for traumatized people, arising repeatedly and demanding an answer, is whether it is possible to be reconciled with what has been done to them. After a “breach of civilization” like the Holocaust, is forgiveness really possible? After expulsion, persecution, and destruction of identity, is it even possible to think about reconciliation and forgiveness, let alone put them into action? Does forgiveness make transformation possible and with it restore the capacity to go on living? For those who survive individual and collective experiences 104of violence and inhumanity, the pressing question must be faced again and again: How do I deal with states of possession by the archetype of revenge, hatred, and retaliation?
