The Choice by Edith Eger.webp
The Choice
Edith Eger, Esmé Schwall Weigand, Philip G. Zimbardo, Edith Eva Eger
It’s 1944 and sixteen-year-old ballerina and gymnast Edith Eger is sent to Auschwitz. Separated from her parents on arrival, she endures unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele. When the camp is finally liberated, she is pulled from a pile of bodies, barely alive. The horrors of the Holocaust didn’t break Edith. In

Published

2017

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The Choice
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Today, we’re exploring The Choice, the unforgettable memoir by Dr. Edith Eva Eger, a Holocaust survivor whose story is both heartbreaking and deeply inspiring. At just sixteen years old, Edith was sent to Auschwitz with her family in 1944. Within hours of arriving, she was separated from her parents forever. In one of the book’s most haunting moments, she is forced to dance for Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi officer known as the Angel of Death.

What makes this memoir extraordinary is not only the unimaginable suffering Edith endured, but the remarkable life she built afterward. Barely alive when liberated from the concentration camps, she carried invisible wounds long after the war ended. Yet instead of allowing trauma to define her, Edith chose another path. She became a psychologist dedicated to helping others confront pain, grief, fear, and self-doubt.

The Choice is not simply a Holocaust memoir. It’s a meditation on survival, forgiveness, and the freedom found within the human spirit. Edith reminds readers that trauma may shape us, but it does not have to imprison us. Her message is powerful: healing is not about forgetting the past, but learning how to live beside it without surrendering to it.

Throughout the book, Edith shares deeply personal memories alongside stories from patients she later counseled. These moments transform the memoir into something larger than history. It becomes a guide for resilience and emotional courage.

What stays with you most is Edith’s compassion. Despite witnessing humanity at its cruelest, she still believes in hope, love, and personal choice. The Choice is devastating, uplifting, and ultimately life-affirming. It’s a story that challenges us not only to survive hardship, but to truly live beyond it.
Nonfiction Reader