This book review was written by Eugene Kernes
“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his suffering in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.” – Viktor E. Frankl, Page 38
“To discover that there was any semblance of art in a concentration camp must be surprise enough for an outsider, but he may be even more astonished to hear that one could find a sense of humor there as well; of course, only the faint trace of one, and then only for a few seconds or minutes. Humor was another of the soul’s weapons in the fight for self-preservation. It is well known that humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds.” – Viktor E. Frankl, Page 42
“A man who let himself decline because he could not see any future goal found himself occupied with retrospective thoughts. In a different connection, we have already spoken of the tendency there was to look into the past, to help make the present, with all its horrors, less real. But in robbing the present of its reality there lay a certain danger. It became easy to overlook the opportunities to make something positive of camp life, opportunities which really did exist.” – Viktor E. Frankl, Page 62
Is This An Overview?
Death is the outcome of a concentration camp. A prison that sorts people based on their ability to work. If a person could not be forced to work under the harsh conditions, or lack of food, they were sent to death. A concentration camp is about suffering, but there are those who survived. Those who had higher chances of survival found moments to overcome the suffering, and find mental habits to keep themselves from despair. Those who survived found ways to imbue meaning in their life. Finding meaning even in the tragic human experience of the concentration camp.
There were those who died from giving up hope, from a lack of a potential future. Died from nothing to live for. A physiological response, as those who deteriorated mentally, also deteriorated physically which made them vulnerable to every other threat. To survive, to prevent despair, the prisoners found ways to imbue meaning into their experience. Prisoners found momentary solace in retrospective thought. Momentary bliss from thinking about loved ones. Even some humor was used as a self-preservation mechanism.
Finding meaning is the basis of logotherapy. Meaning can be found through work, love, or
even courage in difficult times. There
is much that is beyond the control of the individual, but the individual has
the freedom to choose how to respond.
Cannot control what happens, but can control how the individual
feels.
How Did People Handle The Concentration Camp?
Initially, the prisoners had some hope that they would keep their items. But became apathetic, as a self-defense mechanism. Everything began to be about self-preservation. The prisoners crowed together for self-preservation, to not be conspicuous. Alternatively, prisoners wanted time alone with their thoughts.
Prisoners who were chosen for death, had a delusion of reprieve. An illusion of being spared in the last moment. Those who were chosen for death were those who could not work. In response, the prisoners tried to make themselves look younger, fit for work. Viktor E. Frankl used psychological tools to become useful to the Capo, who saved Frankl from death. Capos were prisoners who worked for the guards. There were some really bad guards, in all can be found human kindness.
After the camp experience, former prisoners depersonalize
their experience, as if they had been deceived and it did not happen. Even though they wanted liberation, they also
could not believe it happened.
What Is Logotherapy?
Logotherapy is about the future, how people finding meaning. By finding fulfillment in the future. A tension between what was achieved, and has yet to be achieved. People have the ability to change, and change the world.
Retrospective thought can help, but can also be dangerous. Retrospective thought can prevent people from seeing the opportunities of reality. To not see opportunities to become better.
Caveats?
There is a survivorship bias in those who survived by using the methods. As mentioned in the book, many of those who used the methods still died. Without mentioning how many survived without using the methods.
