Embrace the possible.
“The Choice” is probably the most important and eye-opening book I have ever read. For someone who has experienced the unimaginable, her bi-line is “Embrace the Possible,” and as she tells her story, she shares her hard-earned wisdom in a way that feels personal, caring and for me it was life changing.
I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to experience Auschwitz, or anything the Nazi regime put upon her family, as a parent, or as a fifteen year old girl in love for the first time.
For a long time, it seemed that no one truly believed that their lives could become as threatened as time would tell. Imagine, after an average day, her family was suddenly herded out of their home without warning, and transported to Auschwitz in overcrowded boxcars meant for livestock. There was neither enough food or water. Not knowing what was to become of them had to be stressful enough, but somehow Edith’s father seemed to have a sense of calm as he read the sign over Auschwitz’ gates, “Arbeit Macht Frei,” meaning “work will set you free,” and tried to console his weary family. But, that was the last thing he did.
Only moments after, during a sorting process, he and his wife were separated from each other and their two young daughters, and headed unknowing into separate gas chambers, after which their bodies were fed to the great ovens.
As the ominous smoke blew from the chimney of the crematorium, signaling their brutal demise, Dr. Mengele, the angel of death, and the most wicked man ever to hold a medical license, made their young daughter dance for him. In spite of days without adequate food or water, Edith, a professionally trained little ballerina, danced for her life.
Miraculously Edith survived Auschwitz. She was rescued at the end of the war after she already had been placed on a pile of corpses, and was presumed dead. The years of torment could have left her broken for the remainder of her life, but she fought through it with incredible resilience, and made THE CHOICE not to let her the cruelty she endured defeat her. As she healed, she became a Doctor of Psychology, a university professor, and as a therapist she has helped countless patients through their own trauma and horrifying PTSD.
As I write this, she is 93 years old, and although I only “met” her through a Zoom talk, hosted by Professor Eric Koester of the Creator Institute at Georgetown University, I have never felt such radiant energy come through the screen as when she spoke. She is a gift, and I will always remember her for her wisdom, her kindness, her resilience, her boundless dedication to her work, and the joy she exudes.
Her second book is appropriately called, “The Gift, 12 Lessons to Save Your Life,” which I also highly recommend. If you want to hear more about Dr. Eger, look her up on YouTube, and prepare to be awed.