Viktor E. Frankl was a Viennese psychiatrist and neurologist who was deported in 1942 and spent the next years in several camps, including Theresienstadt, Auschwitz and Dachau subsidiary camps. His parents, brother and wife died in the Holocaust. He wrote the first part of this book in a matter of days soon after liberation.
That first part is not a chronicle of atrocities but a psychological study of camp life seen from the inside. Frankl describes the phases prisoners passed through, from shock to apathy to the strange disorientation of release, and observes that those who held on to a purpose, a loved one or a task waiting for them were often better able to endure. Even when everything else is taken away, he argues, people keep the freedom to choose their attitude.
The second part outlines logotherapy, the school of psychotherapy Frankl founded, which treats the search for meaning as the primary human motivation. He suggests meaning can be found through work, through love, and through the way one faces unavoidable suffering. The book has sold millions of copies and is regularly listed among the most influential works of the twentieth century.
Book details
| Author | Viktor E. Frankl |
|---|---|
| First published | 1946 |
| Original language | German |
| Translated by | Ilse Lasch |
| Genre | Psychology |
| Type | Non-fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 165 |
| Setting | Nazi concentration camps, 1942-1945 |
Themes
- Meaning
- Suffering
- Freedom of attitude
- Holocaust
- Resilience
Who should read it
Anyone facing hardship or loss, and readers interested in how people find purpose under the worst conditions.
If you liked this, try
- The Diary of a Young Girl
- If This Is a Man
- When Breath Becomes Air