‘The Choice’ – Edith Eger
The book I regularly return to in these Corona times, with its bouts of sadness and anguish, is The Choice, with its European-edition subtitle Living in Freedom. It is written by Edith Eva Eger, who was born in Hungary, survived Auschwitz and came after the war to the US.
In this book, Dr. Eger, a psychologist, shares her own memories of the war and her deportation to Auschwitz in 1944. Her parents were sent directly to the gas chamber. She and her little sister tried to survive, which was terribly hard. Her sister asked her after the shaving of her hair: “How do I look?” Then Edith chose to say: ‘You have beautiful eyes!” Her response echoes the title of the book, reminding us that even in the worst of circumstances, you can always choose what to see and how to react. The Choice is not only a book about the war, it is a story about her life, a story about making choices that set you free.
Desmond Tutu wrote: ” ‘The Choice’ is a gift to humanity. One of those rare and eternal stories that you don’t want to end and that leaves you forever changed. Dr. Eger’s life reveals our capacity to transcend even the greatest of horrors and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.”
Joke, July 2020
Photo by Lubo Minar on Unsplash
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During this pandemic time of change, isolation, uncertainty, and “new normals”, I am so glad to hear about this book! Others have gone before and walked the devestating road of “choice”…how to see life in upending times, how to respond in life-affirming ways, how to keep the soul alive…and there is so much we can learn from their stories, as horrific as they may be. Thank you for the review and recommendation, Joke. I look forward to the read and learning more about not only the power of choice but also the need to make life-affirming choices, as costly and difficult as they are.
Thank you Joke for bringing this story to our attention. Often in our modern world it seems we are forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. Which politician smells least bad seems to be the choice in many recent elections both in Spain and the U.S. I am glad to be reminded there are other choices that are available to me, choices that free the heart to pursue what is beautiful and affirming.
Thank you for this recommendation, Joke. It sounds like an important book to have in our reading collection, particularly when looking through the lens of these unique Co-Vid19 times. I look forward to gaining perspective from the generosity of the sharing of Dr. Eger’s journey.
Thank you, Joke, for your encouragement. I’ve been aware for quite awhile of this simple, but life-changing perspective–that we can’t, of course, control what happens to us, but we are always free to choose our response. What you wrote about Dr. Eger’s book makes me want to read her journey to that life. If she could choose amidst such unspeakable tragedy, then we all need to cast aside the rationalizations we use to excuse ourselves from this awesome responsibility!
It is so easy to drift into deceiving one’s self that circumstances dictate state of being and attitude. Choosing to look for the positive amidst the negative could surely not be more challenging than in a concentration camp, the horrors of which make me shudder. You have motivated me to read this book, thank you.