A New York Times Bestseller “I’ll be forever changed by Dr. Eger’s story… and to use that suffering for the benefit of others. She has found true freedom and forgiveness and shows us how we can as well.” —Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
“Dr. Edith Eva Eger is my kind of hero. She survived unspeakable horrors and brutality; but rather than let her painful past destroy her, she chose to transform it into a powerful gift—one she uses to help others heal.” —Jeannette Walls, New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award
At the age of sixteen, Edith Eger was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele, forced Edie to dance for his amusement and her survival. Edie was pulled from a pile of corpses when the American troops liberated the camps in 1945.
Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt, determined to stay silent and hide from the past. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive—herself.
Edie weaves her remarkable personal journey with the moving stories of those she has helped heal. She explores how we can be imprisoned in our own minds and shows us how to find the key to freedom. The Choice is a life-changing book that will provide hope and comfort to generations of readers.
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One of the most extraordinary stories you’ll ever read, of a teenage girl who survived Auschwitz, where she danced for the notorious Josef Mengele, married into a rich Hungarian family, then fled to the U.S. to escape Communism. Here, she climbed from immigrant poverty to become a psychotherapist, deeply influenced by Viktor Frankl. Oprah Winfrey chose this for her book club, and it’s easy to see why.
THE CHOICE by Dr. Edith Eva Eger is an unshakably absorbing book to read. It took me a month to finish it because each chapter left me speechless. The horror of the Holocaust was very difficult to comprehend, but Eger made it so real, you felt the blows, the hunger, the inhumanity. Evil lurks behind self-righteousness, behind self-importance, behind all that separates us as humans. We must do better — and Eger shows us how. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
My son bought me The Choice for my birthday – “coz I know you love WW2.”
What he doesn’t know was that although I do love reading historical fiction and lots of historical fiction set in the 1940s, I tend to read ‘around’ WW2, – I can no longer look it directly in the eye. In the past, I’ve read ‘Night’ by Elie Weisel and ‘If this is a man’ by Primo Levi, factual books and documentaries about the holocaust – but I stopped a while ago, basically, because it’s so horrendous and since having kids I find it too harrowing. And it feels too close. And I do know how privileged that is – “you find it uncomfortable? What about the people who went through it…” but I had to draw a line somewhere.
And the other thing was – it was a paperback – I’m finding more and more I prefer reading on kindle – one because I can make the font massive and two so I can read while husband is asleep.
So when he gave me ‘The Choice,’ I thought, ‘hmm ok, that’ll go on the SBR -‘should be read’ – pile.
However, every week or so, he asked, ‘you read it yet?’ and every week when I said, ‘not yet…’ he looked disappointed.
So I thought Ok, I’ll try and read it – for him.
From the first page, it was perfect. ‘The Choice’ is not only about the holocaust (‘only’ – as if the holocaust couldn’t or shouldn’t take up whole books) but its about Edith’s life before, during and mostly after her time in a concentration camp, and its about how she used her – most terrible suffering and enormous loss – to help bring light to other people who are suffering. It’s a wonderful book – beautifully, vividly and authentically written – if anyone likes psychotherapy/self-help books – this is one for you too. We get to know Edith intimately, her hopes, her marriage, her strengths and her fears. What Edith endured… And yet, the patients she treated with such compassion for so many years using her pain for good, well, she is a hero. The section of Edith, falteringly, bravely, visiting Auschwitz – some 40 years after she was an inmate there – is heart-breaking and will stay with me for ever. I sobbed aloud and thought about what those precious words Mama/Mother mean, and about love, guilt and recovery.
So my boy knows what his old Mum likes better than she knows herself. 🙂
This book allows you to understand the long-term effects of trauma. The brutality and danger of life are shown in a way that is encapsulating. A good read for those looking to understand themselves and the world on a deeper level
The Choice, encouraging and hopeful.
An Auschwitz survivor who struggles with survivor’s guilt and finding her own path, Dr.Edith Eger’s memoir is inspiring. A great read for anyone trying to cope with a tough hand–we don’t always choose the circumstances we find ourselves in, but we do have power over our attitude.
The Choice is more than Dr. Eger’s memoir. As a Holocaust survivor, she was lucky to alive, however, nobody told her how hard to survive after the war. In the beginning of the book, she states, “We cannot compare our pain with others.” Even if your pain seems more painful than others, it is up to how you take it. There are always challenges in our lives, but you have a choice, which innocent prisoners were mentally and physically too abused to function of the sense of choice. Through her personal and professional struggles and accomplishments, readers learn the impeccable perspective; If you silence your pain, you will be a prisoner of the pain. How courageous and resilient for anybody to face its pain and embrace! That is the only way you can find a meaning of your life. We all have a choice of being a prisoner of pain or free from the pain in the past. The Choice is the powerful tool to live your only one life in full.
This should be required reading. Great story that shows the worst of humanity can be overcome.
I first read this book while doing research for my website, http://www.BringingHopeAndhappiness.com The purpose of my site is to help people realize they do have hope, and how to subsequently build happiness. I read Dr. Eger’s remarkable story of how she had survived Auschwitz. Following her rescue by American forces, she had a choice. She could live her life, hating the NAZI and finding ways to seek revenge, or she could choose Hope. I was so moved by her story, I flew from the mountains of southwest Virginia, to La Jolla, CA to interview her. This is the interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS8b7lnc96M
How people could survive such a terrible time and come out to help others is nothing short of a miracle.
As a Holocaust refugee at just 16 years old, immigrant to the US, who came to this country not able to speak English, Dr Eva’s story is frankly surreal. She secured her degree, taught young disadvantaged children for years, built a family and even secured her Ph.D leading to a flourishing practice treating those suffering from PTSD. She has appeared on Oprah and now at 92, her book takes you back to the one of the darkest periods in human history and retells her journey through a long and fruitful life. Life’s journey is love, but one must live it and live it with no hate in your heart. Dr. Eva does that. One of my Top ten reads for 2019.
This is an amazing emotional roller coaster of a book!
This memoir tells how Mrs Eger survived the Nazi death camps during WW2 and went on to defy all the odds to become a successful psychologist in America whilst applying her knowledge and desire to heal herself of the scars and trauma of her early life. It is an open and brutally honest portrayal of how she danced for Mengele to survive, tried to deal with PTSD by denying it and a whole lot more – it is an account of the life of an amazing woman who still helps people deal with stress in many ways even though she is now in her 90’s.
I definitely recommend this book
Amazing account of an amazing life – from surviving Auschwitz as a teenager to coming to America, raising a family and then returning to school to become a psychologist working with veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress. One of the most intense accounts of surviving the Holocaust I have ever read – and her return to Auschwitz decades later to come to terms with her own past is very powerful stuff.
After surviving the concentration camps she over came her personal experience with hate and devastation and became a therapist always searching herself to find the love in everyone .
Dr. Eger is such a strong and courageous woman, and tells her story so beautifully. Thank you for your story and the good work you continue to do. You’ve inspired me.
I bought the book after listening to the interview on super soul Sunday with Oprah. This women is amazing, a tragic life turned into an inspirational journey. When you put your mind to it, there is nothing that can’t be accomplished.
A wonderful uplifting book about survival and how to achieve fulfillment in life.
I would add educational and self improvement to the above choices.
A book everyonecan learn from!
This memoir tells the story of a remarkable 90-year-old woman, a survivor of Auschwitz, an immigrant to this country after World War II, a mother of three, and a psychologist who connects her experiences of trauma in the service of helping others survive their trauma. It’s an excellent read for anyone in the therapeutic community as well as anyone who’s “stuck” in reliving their traumatic experiences.