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Emptiness, that appeared amongst the people of diffirent social systems, was early on a dedicated
direction of Viktor Emil Frankl, which has worked as a psychiatrist and profesor on the Wienna's university,
and after 1960 also in San Diego, California, US.
As a lecturer he has travelled many times around he world; before he died
he also lectured in Ljubljana a few times, Ljubljana's university was also gave him the one of
twenty-nine honorary doctorates that he received from universties from all around the world.
He has fully grown up to his environment when in college, which was already marked by his compatriots
Sigmund Freud with psychoanalythic and Alfred Adler with individual
psychological theory.Freud has helped him in teenage years with posting his article
in international newspaper for psychoanalysis, and at his 20s he also deserved a place in Adler's
international newspaper for individual psychology with a discussion about psychotherapy and world's opinion.
He has broken away from both of his two teachers, founders of two Wienna's
psychotherapistic schools, because he turned to originally human qualities and therefore grown away
from various human views. But he respected and tresured both; when he was asked for an
US interview, what he thinks about himself compared to Freud, he said that Freud is
undoubtedly the giant of psychotherapy, but a pygmy on his shoulders sees even further.
In a decade before the world war 2 he has layed the fundations of his "supplementing
psychology" as he named it himself. In expert society it found it's place under
names existencial analisys and logotherapy. It's also referred to as 3rd Wienna's psychotherapeutical
school. In the US it's a part of humanistic branch.
Frankl has came to a conclusion, that people often suffer from spiritual emptiness,
pointlessness and senselessness. Until this day this disturbance in evolved world became one of
the main causes of human personal complications and associated with psychosomatic and social patholology.
Freud had to test all his theories on himself. As a Jew in a time of WW2, he was taken
to Auschwitz(Oswienzin), and was forced to leave his young wife, handycapped
parents and his own research log-book behind. The book itself was
later rewritten in Dachau on scavanged pieces of paper, but this one
was also lost, just like all his kin and after him tasting the fires
of hell, it's a wonder he made it. Right after the war the book was again rewritten and finally
published under the name Ärztliche Seelsorge (The Deathcamp Doctor).
It's still sold around the world.
Frankl has mindfully inclined on the whole image of a human, like the one that is known throughout
human history; human is a free and responsible being for him. With connections between anthropology
he opened the doors to scientifical approach for original human functions.
Additional info about Frankl is available online at viktorfrankl.org. There were many
books about him in last few years, like the "Auf dem Spuren des Logos" (On The
Trail of Logo), in which were published Frankls letters with comments
Elisabeth Lukas-the most popular Frankl's student and Joseph Fabry
-the pioneer of logotherapy on US soil. There are also few
in slovene from Trstenjak and Ramovš.
The Question "Why didn't you kill yourself?", that patient is asked by logotherapeut
with inclination to awake his "will to sense", was also the question that Frankl
asked himself when he got out of the camp. That is why the book Deathcamp
Doctor isn't just another deathcamp story, it has more of a testimonial meaning.
This way Frankl confronts us by the way with his basic principles and cognitions
that he connected with his theory of "healing with sense" a.k.a. logotherapy.
So it was tested on creator itself before it became his synonym.
Emil Frankl was a simple man, that was always ready to help his close ones.
In his book he left us with moral teachings and live scenes, which occured
in familiar, cruel, dark and famous concetration camps.
His book is considered one of the many works of this and others authors,
that shows realitiy image of life, or in this case, suffering, which was occuring
in these camps. After reading this book we all depply thought about hardfulness
of main figure, as he had to leave behind family and everything he had as a young husband and leave under force.
That is also what happened to Frankl.
Author clearly describes the time he spent in all of the camps, and now we'll
try to do the same, to describe the life and everyday situations in
camps like Auschwitz, Dachau and other.
His book is split into three parts/periods: admission into the
camp, Camp life and After the liberation.
Admission into the camp: After expectations and testimonies of numerous captives
that newbies met on the way to railway station, where they were released
from sardine-container, admission was anything but confortable.
The group of men of all age got quickly split in half.
The group with Frankl was appointed into a room, where haircutting,
showering and mocking took place. Each man got its identification number, and with that
he was no longer a human, merely a number. All men were shaven down and wearing ragged clothes,
that can't even be called clothes, and they headed barefooted in quite cold
weather inside huts. Even if they had to be squeezed inside little hut,
they were happy, because guards didn't call them names. In the huts they realised,
that the other group they were sepparated from at hte beginning wasn't so "lucky",
because they were on the way directly into gas cells.
As time passed, all the little jokes and laughter, as well as hope, that it'll be over soon,
disappeared from the shacks. Eventually no-one even dared
to laugh or even smile, also because their numbers were decreasing rapidly.
Their phisique was lacking due minimal meals, dilluted soup and a piece of bread, even so they
had to work their fingers off away from the camp. They Were building forts,
bunkers and weapon hideouts, that were needed in the war outside the camp floor.
This is described in the second chapter of Frankl's book:
The Camp Life.
In the rain, hail, snow, even in hellish heat the captives had to work very very hard.
The worst thing was that so-called fore-workers inspected their work, kicked them around
and call them names almost all the time, although captives couldn't even stand up anymore.
That is the main story of this chapter of Frankl's book. On account of Frankl's unique luck,
He didn't have such a sadistic fore-worker in group one, but everywhere he didn't get hurt,
he got with second working group. You can imagine what was
he going through, having the most sadistic fore-worker and all...
Injuries were the companions of the all that work. Severe wounds, blisters and phisycal traumas
were soon part of the everyday schedule. Even so, none of the superiors
seemed to care for poor workers. Some got lucky and were
awarded a day of "medical protection", but only for the one most critical, since this was quite rare.
Destiny has been toying with Frankl's life alot.
He was bound to leave for another camp, but there were some complications with transport.
After some time he found out that the other camp's name was
death.
Even so, the big day of moving has come and he was anomyously transported to another place.
While they were asking each other where they are headed, they encountered a
same scene as in the beginning: entering the camp. But this time it was
Dachau. For a shot time it started to look better for them,
but eventually things got worse. Once again they were forced to do the
endless hard work outside camp's grounds.
Comercials - to wake u up ;)
Frankl many times referes to his dreams while staying in camp,
as well as his thinking: (qoute) At all that hard work in a ditch,
when I was using last of my powers, my wife popped into my mind and I started hopeful thinking
in my heart that she is alive and somewhere safe... (end) Thoughts like that gave Frankl
The will to continue. Many a man couldn't take this bear and crumbled under it.
Frankl started to give moral advices at the evening hours in his shack that
save many lives. Someday a captive, that worked as a doctor, aproached him.
He was no longer the taker of bad names and kicks, that were everyday
outside the camp.
Inside there were diseases spreading and number of fatalities has rapidly arisen.
Death became part of daily routine, only the stronger survived and fought on. Like Frankl.
Once he was approached by a captive which suggested that they make a run
for it. At first, Frankl disagreed, but as time passed on, end was
nowhere near. Eventually he decided to run.
Along the way they found some useful stuff and bread, that was gold to them.
They were aware that they are marching into certain death, but they were
comforted by the thought of awaiting family and friends. Besides, there was a
warfield out there. When they were ready to go, destiny intevened again.
Red Cross convoy rolled through front gate, and gave food and clothes to the captives.
Also the man that took command was intending to close the camp
for good.
The following days were extremely intense. At night that same day the camp was
attacked by nazi, as they attempted to reclaim it. As days passed by, things
started to chill down. The captives felt that the end of this hell is
very very close. And so it happened. Soon began the releasing captives from
the camp, which is the beginning of the final chapter. And that day came
for Frankl too. With insecurity he walked through camp's door, in which he had
in past few years the most horrifying experience. At first, he was uncertain how to
live this life, because everything was foreign to him. As he described it, this
part of life was hard for him, because he had to get used to freedom again. But soon
he got used to regular life, which wasn't even close to camp's cruelness and hard work,
which surrounded him in past, in what he calls Camp Of Death.
On the end we can imagine the horrors, which were parts of captives lives inside that camp.
Many of them didn't await the arrival of aliance forces, the day they would leave like a free men.
There were many heroes, that gave their lives to protect someone else.
The survivors still recall the most vile, cruel and dirty times of human history
with pain in their hearts. Because of that we must fight, that these stories
remain in the past.