The scars--I have talked about this in some other posts, about coming to terms with the past and the time and distance we need to do that. The scars are a part of the person but not the sum total and that is an understanding that comes with time. Again, with reference to years of Holocaust research and many interviews in my academic life, I met some survivors who had their Auschwitz tattoo removed as soon as possible as a mark of shame or perhaps identity that they wanted to hide or discard in some ways. Others learned to live with it as part of their lives and everything that happened to them and it is still not unusual in Israel to see that, especially in the summer when we wear short sleeves and sleeveless clothes. What once would have been a mark of shame, humiliation and to some extent, especially in the early post war years of someone who did not stand up and fight (another myth that has been exploded), it has become something quite different--as I said, a part of who a person is but not the sum total.
In a similar vein, although not physical, until roughly the Bicentennial in Australia, people were reluctant to admit their ancestors had been transported convicts. With research and understanding of the convict background including political dissent as well such petty crimes that seem unbelievable to us, it has become more a mark of pride. Mental scars perhaps rather than physical???
That's my two cents!
Elle
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