Trauma and Community

This article presents an example of trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth in the story of three generations of a family that lost five sons in World War II and post-war mass killings, experienced the imprisonment of one son and the emigration of two daughters, expropriation of their possessions, and post-war communist harassment. With the help of the village community, the connection between family members, and because of their inherent faith, the pain of trauma has been transformed through three generations into national awareness, courage, emotional vulnerability, and creativity. In Slovenia, there are a few examples of villages that resisted partisan violence against the population and held out against the communist revolution but paid for it with several people who were killed, abducted, or imprisoned. These villages became a source of national consciousness and political social activity and strongly supported Slovenia in 1990 in the process of gaining independence from Yugoslavia. In most of these villages, affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church, the connection between the village community, and the connection between the younger generations and the older ones are also strong. We will present the stories of three women, a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter, and through their narration illustrate the process of moving from PTSD to post-traumatic growth.