Edith Eva Eger

Our internal processing of experiences, especially our suffering, is crucial. When we dig deep to understand and heal our trauma, we become healers—for ourselves, for others, and for the world. Through the recovery from trauma, we achieve wisdom, greater understanding, empathy, and ultimately, a love that nourishes all.

In her memoir, The Choice: Embrace the Possible, Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a survivor of Auschwitz who later became a renowned therapist, reiterates a profound truth that Viktor E. Frankl, another Auschwitz survivor, explored in his psychoanalytical work: we always have a choice. The choice to hope, to be kind, to express gratitude, to collaborate, to seek peace, and to love. The choices we make have the power to transform even the darkest aspects of life into lessons for our descendants and medicines to eradicate disease (of body, mind, and spirit).

I had the honor of seeing Dr. Eger recount her story many years ago as a journalism student when she spoke at my university. I sat in awe in a crowded auditorium, listening to Edith's raw, visceral account of a sixteen-year-old girl torn from everything she knew, thrown into the nightmare of Auschwitz, and forced to confront loss, brutality, and the annihilation of her family. At the time, Edith was not the celebrated therapist and author she is today, but I wrote a piece on her talk for my university's newspaper because I felt as if I was in the presence of a great spiritual teacher—a living embodiment of survival and human resilience.

The Choice is a moving memoir of her experiences as a Holocaust survivor, but also a practical guide to healing.

What makes The Choice exceptional is how Edith intertwines her own healing journey with the work she has done as a therapist by sharing stories of how she helps patients escape the prisons of their own minds. She connects the harrowing experiences of her youth with the wisdom she gained through decades of helping others navigate trauma. Written with remarkable clarity and humility, The Choice is an unforgettable personal account and a powerful blueprint for anyone struggling to overcome psychological prisons. 

As she guides her patients through recovering from the psychological scars of war, abuse, addiction, and loss, she reflects on her own process of freeing herself from the emotional shackles left by the Holocaust. It was about choosing forgiveness (of herself and others), over hatred, and embracing the possibility of a life beyond her mind's prison.

Dr. Edith Eva Eger struggled to forgive herself because when standing in line at Auschwitz with her sister and mom, pointing at her mom, the guards asked her if that was her sister or her mom, and she answered that she was her mom and they separated them. She later realized that in the horrific conditions of Auschwitz, lying was often the only way to protect one's family and survive. So by revealing the truth, she feared she had put her mother at greater risk and contributed to her potential demise. She eventually achieved self-forgiveness by recognizing that she didn't know, she didn't know what was going on or what unfair consequences answering to that question truthfully would have, and accepting that she couldn't control the outcome, and so she had to focus on moving forward. 

Edith and her family were among millions who suffered the horrors of the Holocaust. She watched her parents be taken from her and endured staggering abuse at Auschwitz. Somehow, she and her sister survived. But after her liberation, the emotional wounds kept her captive. Her recovery journey—from a trauma victim to a trauma survivor—is one of reinvention.

Through her stories—both her own and those of her patients—Edith reveals that healing is not a linear path but one that involves willingness to process, extract the lessons, and move forward. She emphasizes that trauma cannot simply be "forgotten," but it can be integrated into our lives in a way that allows us to transcend it. “You have a choice. You can choose to remain a victim or choose to heal,” she writes.

Edith’s work with patients who have suffered and transcended unspeakable traumas serve as evidence of the human capacity to heal, find meaning, and help others in the process. Her words, rooted in deep empathy and understanding of suffering, offer emotional intelligence that guides us toward healing. She never downplays pain's significance but encourages us to look at it honestly, accept it, and decide what we will do with it. Her message is clear: the power to heal lies within all of us, but it requires taking responsibility for our emotional freedom.

For readers who have experienced trauma or struggle with emotional wounds from various aspects of life, The Choice offers a path forward. Edith’s writing illuminates the psychological realities of trauma and recovery and offers a philosophy that embraces possibility, growth, and profound freedom.

Reflecting on the lecture I attended years ago, when Edith spoke of unimaginable horrors and her choice to hope, transcend, and help others heal, I see how her life proves that even the hardest truths can be transformed. She embodies the truth that trauma can be alchemized into golden wisdom.

Reading The Choice feels less like reading a memoir and more like receiving a gift from someone who has walked through the worst of human experience and not only survived but thrived. Her words challenge us to reconsider how we view our struggles and pain. She suggests that instead of repressing it, by processing it and extracting the core lessons from it, we can transcend it and transform it into healing power.

The Choice is for anyone who wants to understand human resilience, the power of choice in overcoming suffering, and the authentic power of the human spirit. If Edith Eva Eger can process her past, forgive the unthinkable, heal from trauma, and help others do the same, her story offers us all the encouragement we need to confront our own wounds and find freedom. This book proves we can all find peace, no matter our past.

For those seeking a memoir that offers universal lessons about trauma healing, resilience, and transformation, The Choice is not only an unforgettable story but a profound call to live a life of possibility.