Edith Eger, the inspiring story of a surviving psychologist

Edith Eger owes much of her fame to The dancer of Auschwitza work published in 2017. In it he narrates the battle he had to fight, first to survive the Nazi concentration camps and then to manage the memories in a way that will not destroy his mental health.

It was precisely that struggle to stop being a victim of tragedy that led her to become a psychologist and specialize in post-traumatic stress disorder. No one understands the weight of a traumatic experience better than her. in the life.

As part of her healing process, Edith Eger wrote the book for which she is most recognized. Today, Edith Eger is convinced that tragic experiences hardly fail to have an influence on the present. For her, what is in our power is to build a story with these memories that does not prevent us from continuing to live. It is advisable to give up carry the wound, whether as a shame or as a pretext.

The life of Edith Eger

Edith Eger was born in Košice, a town that currently belongs to Hungary, but when she was born belonged to Czechoslovakia. Her parents, Lajos and Ilona, ​​were Jewish. Her two older sisters, Clara and Magda, were talented musicians. In fact, Edith has confessed that she felt inferior to them for a long time.

From a very young age she was inclined towards dance and discovered that only by dancing did she feel like herself. At the same time she practiced gymnastics and she was selected to be part of the Olympic team that would represent her country. However, In 1942 several anti-Jewish laws were passed and she was removed from the group. Thus began a strong persecution.

Her older sister, Clara, was hidden by her music teacher. Meanwhile, the rest of the family was sent to a ghetto. It is said that they had to live in a brick factory along with 12,000 other people. Shortly after, she, her mother and her sister Magda were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp..

The dancer of Auschwitz

When they arrived at the concentration camp, the young women were separated from their mother, who would die shortly after in a gas chamber. That same night, the famous doctor Mengele asked Edith Eger to dance for him.

Full of pain, she remembered a phrase that her mother I always repeated to him: “remember that no one can take away what you put in your mind.”. Those words allowed him to dance The Blue Danube with grace, in tribute to her mother. In the end, the Nazis gave him a piece of bread as compensation for the show. She shared her food with the other young women who were in the barracks where they slept.

She and her sister went through several concentration camps. She was also sent on one of the famous “death marches.” In one of them, so exhausted and sick, she fainted. One of the young women who was also marching recognized her. In doing so, she led an initiative that several of her colleagues joined: that of all of them carrying her so that she could reach the final destination.

Thus they arrived at the Mauthausen camp, where there was so much hunger that Edith Eger and her sister had to eat grass. In 1945 they were released. She had a broken back, typhoid, pneumonia, pleurisy and weighed 32 kg.

A survivor

Edith Eger’s condition was so serious that they piled her body next to the corpses in the field. However, a soldier noticed him moving a hand. He rescued her and had her receive medical attention. This is how he saved his life. He then went to Czechoslovakia, from where he would fly to the United States.

At first, he chose to hide his story. By chance, an acquaintance approached him one afternoon and gave him a book: Man’s Search for Meaningby Viktor Frankl. Edith Eger resisted reading it because she refused to open the wound. However, curiosity overcame her evasive attitude. After finishing the book, she sought out the author, and after long conversations they cemented what would become a beautiful friendship.

Furthermore, his story was an encouragement for him to end up studying Psychology, eventually earning a doctorate.. In his desire for knowledge there was always the ultimate goal of being able to help others; especially to those, like her, who had gone through a traumatic experience.

His most recent work is There was no Prozac in Auschwitzfrom 2020. Today he is 94 years old and feels that he has had a full life.

Main image of Semper Fi & American’s Fund

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