Former Auschwitz prisoner Edith Eger, author of the books “The Choice” and “The Gift,” has died

In San Diego, America, on April 27, at the age of 99, Edith Eva Eger, a former prisoner of the Auschwitz death camp who became a writer and clinical psychologist, a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder, died.

Edith Eva Elefant was born in 1927 in Kosice, Czechoslovakia, into a Jewish family. She was interested in ballet and gymnastics. In 1938 the city was occupied by Hungary, and in 1944 the family was sent to Auschwitz. Her parents died, but she managed to survive by dancing in front of Dr. Josef Mengele.

She survived several death marches and was freed by American soldiers who found her under a pile of bodies. She returned to her homeland, but in 1949, after the communists came to power in Czechoslovakia, Edith and her husband managed to move to the United States.

She managed to free herself from guilt thanks to the legendary psychologist Viktor Frankl, who also survived the Holocaust. They became friends, and the fight against trauma became her specialty. Eger published several books, including “The Gift” and “Choice,” about her experiences.

“We can choose how to live. You can only heal what you feel. You can’t change the past, but we can use the present to make the world a better place. There is a life that I can change,” she said.