The present paper explores elements of traumatic separation associated with involuntary migration by individuals and groups. Loss of “home,” one's sense of security, familiarity, and historical continuity—without physical threat or actual injury—is examined within a cultural and historical context. The author addresses the complex implications of traumatic separation by conscious human choice, rather than natural processes, such as the “poisoning of nostalgia,” the process by which normal mourning of loss is undermined by a potentially transgenerationally enduring sense of betrayal of trust.