'The Choice' by Edith Eger

Not another Holocaust memoir… I was reluctant to follow the recommendations to read The Choice by Edith Eger. But – I heard Dr. Edith Eger interviewed on Radio NZ, bought the book, read it, and I’m glad I did.

The Choice – the argument that wherever you are, whatever your situation, you always have a choice, the choice of your attitude, your interpretation of how you see what happens to you.

This sounds twee. Yet the author’s trauma makes most others seem small – she was sent to Auschwitz with her family when she was 16, the parents disappear, Edith and her sister survive. Another sister survives outside the concentration camps. Life after Auschwitz isn’t easy either – marriage, immigration to America. She studies psychology and spends her life dealing with trauma, her own and that of her patients.

It’s not an easy read, yet I read it in a few days. Mesmerized. Fascinated. The final chapter is the one where I picked up the pencil, to underline the recommendations. You can possibly find similar recommendations in various how to be happy healthy wealthy in 10 steps Self help books, yet – coming from the background we just shared, from insights gained by working with deeply traumatised people, sharing her own personal story – it’s a fascinating book. 

It’s a memoir written at over 80; the memories of the time in Auschwitz are vivid, yet not immediate. The experience has been processed, thought through – it’s a privilege to share the author’s journey, her learning, and there’s so much to gain from reading this book. It put my own challenges into perspective without minimising them. It gives hope. Highly recommended.