The greatest book of our times — Man’s search for meaning
“Man’s search for meaning” by Viktor Frankl is one book that I have re-read many times. It is a short book by a Jewish psychiatrist who survived the world war II holocaust. He served in many dreaded concentration camps like Auschwitz and was finally liberated by the American Army in 1945. I have read many books on WWII and have watched many great movies on this subject like “Life is beautiful”, “The pianist”, and “Schindler’s List” etc. They depict the inhuman cruelty and barbarity of the nazis during the holocaust. This book tells you an insider story of prisoners in the concentration camps, their daily accounts, primitive needs, their faith & hopelessness, physical hardship, and endless suffering. But it is not just a tragic story; it throws light on these events from a psychological aspect. It conveys the most important philosophy:
Man’s life never ceases to have meaning — even in the most primitive form and hopeless situations. It always serves a meaning — you need to find it.
Viktor Frankl describes the step-by-step reactions of camp inmates: from surprise to apathy to hopelessness. How human beings were reduced to the level of animals with their constant need for food and perennial fear of death and devoid of any other emotions. He describes the inmates as a herd of sheep constantly protecting themselves from dogs and in search of food. However, even in such a fearful mental and physical condition, how a few inmates survived only because of hope.
One of the important takeaways from the book is that your mind controls your body completely. As long as the mind has willpower and it is hopeful, it makes the body go through any dire situation — like surviving on one piece of bread and a cup of soup a day, working endlessly in freezing cold to lay down railway tracks, not being able to wash teeth for years, using the same pair of clothes for years, walking barefoot on snow for hours without any adequate protection, and finally not having any medication for the illness. Their body still survived only because of tremendous willpower and hope! He quotes a famous German philosopher, Nietzsche -
“He who has a why to live can bear almost anyhow.”
Frankl gives an example of a camp warden. In the last months of the war, one of the camp’s wardens was very hopeful that the war would end by March 1945. However, the American army was nowhere close to their camp and there were no signs of war getting over by the end of March. As March approached, the warden fell ill and finally died on 30th March. He had gone through so much pain and hardship for many years — however, when his mind lost hope, the body could not survive and he died merely 2 months before liberation!
One of my favourite quotes from this book is,
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.
If you haven’t read the book yet, grab a copy. It is a poignant read but humbles you and makes you realize how lucky you are to live in good times like today with the abundance of life, food, protection and hope! This is one book that literally stays with you for the rest of your life!
