ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a moment of narrative dissonance in the joint testimony of a mother and a daughter who survived the Holocaust together. Although the presence of the real mother at the scene speaks to the collapse of the maternal position in the face of trauma, the daughter's narrative forms scar tissue in an attempt to maintain relatedness, regardless of the trauma suffered. The chapter argues that the separateness that occurs between mother and daughter, the narrative dissonance they produce, marks a moment of crisis in their relationship and that this crisis resonates with and stems from a traumatic experience. It also argues that, as a traumatic event, the infanticide had its immediate impact on the mother-daughter relationship of both women. It is indeed possible for the ego to split in response to a trauma, to defend against psychic fragmentation.
