The Choice

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The Choice Page 34

by Edith Eva Eger


  Soviet squashing of anti-Communist rebellion in, 149

  Interpretation of Dreams, The (Freud), 32, 92

  Israel

  Béla’s final decision not to immigrate to, 130

  Bricha’s help for immigrants to, 111–12, 115, 122, 123

  Edith and Béla’s plans to immigrate to, 111–13, 122, 123–24, 125

  Edith’s concerns about life in, 123

  reports about problems with life in, 122

  survivors in, 173–74

  Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, 124

  Jews

  art student’s story about, 213

  deportation to concentration camps of, 47

  Edith’s school harassment for being, 25

  expulsion from Olympic gymnastics training team and, 23–25

  forced labor camp imprisonment of, 20, 22–23

  imprisonment in Jakab brick factory camp of, 31–33

  internalization of sense of inferiority about being, 19, 20

  Jakab brick factory camp for, 31–33

  life in Hungary for, before World War II, 19–20

  migration from Hungary by, 20

  Nazi rules in Hungary for, 21, 22, 27

  yellow star wearing by, 21

  Jews for Jesus, 137

  Jung, Carl, 162

  Jungian analysis, 162, 169, 238

  Kassa, Hungary (later Košice, Czechoslovakia), 19–20

  Keleti, Ágnes, 149–50

  Kenyérmező internment camp, Hungary, 32–33, 86

  Kolmer, Dr. Harold, 4

  Korda, Imre, 80, 81, 97, 101, 105–6, 121

  Korda, Klara Elefánt (sister)

  Béla’s arrest by Communists and Edith’s escape arrangements with, 116, 120–21

  calling on memories of, during concentration camp experiences, 39, 66

  courtship of, 96, 97

  Edith and Béla’s immigration plans for Israel and, 123, 124

  Edith’s childhood memories of, 14–16, 26, 29, 30, 95

  Edith’s first child and, 107–8

  Edith’s marriage and, 99, 101, 103, 144

  family’s use of identifying phrase for, 188

  initial meeting with future husband, 90

  later years and death of, 268

  marriage to Csicsi, 105, 268–69

  move to Australia by, 105–6, 121, 138

  music studies in Budapest of, 24, 25, 26–27

  parents’ goodbye letter to, 33, 86–87

  postwar musical performances by, 83, 88, 90, 93

  postwar return to family home in Košice by, 88, 89–90

  refuge stay in Vienna and, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125

  sisters’ postwar thoughts about finding, 77, 78, 80, 83

  sisters’ recovery and, 88, 89, 91, 93, 96

  sisters’ reunion with, 85–86

  survival in Hungary during war by, 87–88

  Korda, Lester “Csicsi”

  Béla’s arrest by Communists and escape arrangements with, 120–21

  Béla’s tuberculosis history and, 131

  courtship of Klara by, 96, 97

  Edith’s wedding and, 101

  initial meeting with future wife, 90

  marriage to Klara, 105, 268

  move to Australia by, 105–6, 121, 137

  postwar return to Košice by, 80, 81

  refuge stay in Vienna and, 121, 124, 125

  Latynina, Larisa, 150

  Lavis, Gloria and John, 168

  learned helplessness, 170

  Lili (friend), 166

  Man’s Search for Meaning (Frankl), 155–56, 159, 161, 169, 249

  Marianna (Béla’s cousin), 95, 98, 100, 108

  Mariska (housekeeper), 103, 104, 112, 115, 138

  marriage

  anger at partner’s infidelity in, 196–200

  taking responsibility for oneself in, 204

  Mauthausen concentration camp, Austria, 60–64

  anticipating death in, 61–62

  arrival at, 60

  Death March to Gunskirchen from, 63–64, 80, 135

  drawing on inner world for survival in, 135

  loss of faith in, 62–63

  Stairs of Death and quarrying stone at, 60–61

  Mengele, Dr. Josef, 44–45, 140, 156

  Béla on Edith’s approach to, 204–5

  “Blue Danube” performance for, 39–41, 161

  bread received from, 41, 64

  choosing how to respond to, 205

  Edith’s desire to track down and confront, 175–76, 177

  first glimpse of, 35

  Nazis. See also Auschwitz concentration camp; forced march through Germany; Gunskirchen Lager concentration camp; Mauthausen concentration camp

  Béla’s escape from, 99

  Béla’s family deaths in Prešov and, 98, 99

  Jewish life in Hungary and, 20–21, 22, 47

  Nuremberg Trials, 175

  Olympics

  Edith’s gymnastics training for, 23–25, 82

  Edith’s reaction to Keleti’s performance in, 149–50

  Operation Barbarossa, 21

  panic attacks in, 6, 205, 260–62

  post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 7, 135, 203

  Prešov, Slovakia

  Béla’s family background in, 98, 145

  Edith’s married life in, 103–5

  Pressburger, Emeric, 138

  Producers, The (movie), 210

  rage

  Edith’s desire to release her own experience of, 178

  forgiveness and, 258

  need for survivors to express and let out, 177–78

  partner’s infidelity in marriage and, 196–200

  Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, 170–72

  Ravensbrück concentration camp, 226

  Red Cross, 67

  Red Shoes, The (movie), 138–40, 162

  reparations cases, 212

  revenge

  anger at partner’s infidelity in marriage and expressing, 197, 199–200

  survivors and fantasies of, 54, 78–79, 209

  uselessness of, 212

  Rogers, Carl, 170, 172–73

  Roosevelt, Franklin D., 59

  Rothschild Hospital, Vienna, 121–25, 129, 222

  Russia

  Béla’s fighting with troops from, 99

  World War II and, 21, 22, 49, 87

  Saybrook University, 170

  secret, family’s hiding of child’s condition as, 182

  secrets. trauma from keeping, 5–6

  self-acceptance, 172–73

  Seligman, Martin, 170, 173

  Selye, Dr. Hans, 223

  Shapiro, Molly, 152

  Shillman, Ilona, 144, 267

  Shillman, Magda. See Gilbert, Magda

  Shillman, Nat, 143, 144, 165

  survival

  drawing on inner strength for, 43–45, 135

  Edith’s address to veterans on, 271–72

  Edith’s loss of part of life to, 160

  Spitzer, Matilda (aunt), 20, 82, 89, 106, 107, 111, 129, 133, 143

  survivors

  acceptance of past by, 8

  blame and, 8

  Edith’s interviews of, for dissertation, 173–74, 176

  forgiveness and, 174

  Frankl’s book on experiences of, 155–56

  love for children and next generation held by, 176

  memories and, 17

  permission to feel anger and rage by, 177–79

  power to determine life after trauma and, 175

  TB hospital, Tatra Mountains, 92–93, 95–96, 100

  ten Boom, Corrie, 226, 227

  therapy

  Agnes and breast cancer diagnosis in, 191–96

  Beatrice’s loss of childhood and panic attacks in, 255–62

  Capt. Jason Fuller’s anger and catatonic state in, 3–5, 195–201, 238–39

  Carlos’s anxiety at college and, 251–55

  colonel’s family problems and, 213–18

  de
cision for hospitalization in, 4–5, 188

  Elise’s despair in relationship with Todd, 246–49

  Emma and eating disorder treatment in, 182–90

  establishment of private practice in, 181

  family constitution of rules used in, 189

  first patient in private practice in, 181

  guiding others to position of empowerment during, 8

  hunger as common diagnosis in, 7

  immediate mental evaluation of patient’s boundaries in first few minutes of, 184–85

  important phrases used by Rogers in, 172

  Jun and Ling’s marriage problems in, 239–45

  Jung’s vision of, 162

  older woman’s experience of grief over mother, 218–20

  need to establish new relationship with own trauma for success in, 181–82

  overweight patient’s learning to love herself through, 223–24

  parents after a child’s suicide and, 263–67

  post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in, 7, 135, 203

  reframing of experience in, 219–20

  steps for healing through, 237–38

  therapy sessions

  inside-out exercise in, 193–94

  learning from patients in, 195

  question on first visit in, 4, 243–45

  sensitivities to patient’s boundaries in, 184–85

  technique of asking patient for assistance in, 195–96

  usefulness of therapist in, 245

  writing exercise in, 193

  ways of starting, 3

  Thompson, Audrey. See Eger, Audrey

  trauma

  flashback responses to, 135–36

  Holocaust survivors and, 174

  keeping secrets and, 5–6

  power to determine life after, 175

  Truman, Harry S., 59

  United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, 80

  United States

  arrival in New York City, 129–31

  Béla’s decision to immigrate to, 130

  Béla’s tuberculosis history and visa for, 124, 130–31

  Edith’s decision to immigrate to, 125, 130

  Edith’s struggles in adjusting to life in, 136, 137–38

  immigrant jobs available in, 137

  immigration papers granted by, 112–13, 116, 122–23, 124

  Klara’s support for immigration to, 124

  wait for visas to, 129

  University of Texas

  Edith’s studies at, 152, 154, 159–60, 163, 170, 179

  son John’s graduation from, 179

  Vadasz, Bandi, 103, 108, 111, 122, 123, 125, 130, 175

  Vadasz, Marta, 103, 104, 108, 111, 122, 123, 125, 130, 175–76

  veterans

  Capt. Jason Fuller’s catatonic state and, 3–5, 195–201, 238–39

  Edith’s address to, on surviving, 271–72

  grieving by, 224–25

  reactions to disabilities by, 177–78, 216

  victimhood

  choosing to hold on to, 7-8

  definition of, 204

  internally developing a victim’s mind in, 7–8

  perpetual mourning and, 266

  taking responsibility for ending, 8, 204, 241–42, 249, 255

  victimization differentiated from, 7

  victims

  blame and, 8, 257

  making choices to avoid becoming, 164, 253

  perspective needed for transformation from, 177

  survivors and later feelings of being, 175

  Vienna, refuge stay in, 121–25, 129

  Vietnam veterans, 177–78, 216, 224–25

  “Viktor Frankl and Me” (Eger), 161

  vulnerability

  man’s sense of, 199, 224

  in therapy sessions, 3, 4, 179, 227, 257

  wife’s experience of, 242, 244

  William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Fort Bliss, Texas, 4, 179, 201

  California licensure requirements and hours at, 179

  clinical internship at, 176

  Edith’s reputation at, 177

  Vietnam veterans in treatment at, 177–78, 216, 224–25

  Wels, Austria, recovery in, 73–79

  Woehr, David, 201, 207

  World War I, 19, 21

  Zionism, 22, 111, 175

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  Copyright © 2017 by Dr. Edith Eger

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