"It frightens them and brings them back to the Holocaust," said Dr. Jaclynn Faffer, executive director of Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service, one of the groups helping keep survivors out of nursing homes.
Hornung wouldn't even consider moving into a nursing home. "I would kill myself."
An estimated 93,000 Holocaust survivors are alive in the United States, and South Florida is home to one of the largest populations. The youngest are in their mid-60s, but many are much older. There is no definitive breakdown of how many are living independently and how many receive assistance, but many are living below the poverty line and in need of help.
"Their capacity for resilience that they've shown since the war is amazing," said Paula David, a social worker who has worked with more than 2,000 Holocaust survivors in Toronto over the past 20 years and has studied the specific problems of the population as it ages. "The hard part is no matter what we do, we can't make it OK."
Flashbacks can come to a survivor at any time. A fire alarm. A foreign accent. Standing in a line. Once, David witnessed a survivor begin screaming on a High Holy Day as musicians performed. The music happened to have been played as murders took place at the concentration camps.
One of David's clients slept with hiking boots under his pillow to ensure he'd be able to run away. Another one hoarded bread in his closet so he wouldn't starve.
For Alex Moscovic, who survived Birkenau and the horrific medical experiments of Josef Mengele, a flashback came in the dermatologist's chair. Moscovic needed to have a dime-sized cancerous growth removed. The doctor cauterized the area - and the patient began to shake uncontrollably.
"The smell - it brought me back," Moscovic, 77, said. "The only way you really left Birkenau was through the smokestacks."
Experts have seen similar reactions from other populations, including war veterans and survivors of genocide in Rwanda and elsewhere. The flashbacks are expected to get worse as these groups age, so caregivers are trying to impart lessons learned from the Holocaust survivors.
