A Review by CH (CPT) David Ruderman, Fort Carson
This book is the autobiographical story of one woman’s incredible life journey through pain and loss toward healing and achievement. In the first section of the book, the reader experiences the world through the eyes of 16 year old Eva, a Jewish teenager in pre-war Hungary. We get to know her family, her goals and aspirations, then watch as it all unravels and is lost to the shoah and death camps.
While surviving Auschwitz, Eva discovers personal grit and a tenacious will to survive. After the war, the reader is invited into the inner world of a survivor as she marries and raises a family in America, all the while contending with her past trauma. Dr. Eger is driven to pursue her own healing and ultimately builds a private practice as a psychologist.
In the course of her remarkable life she becomes a person who can guide others through their own challenges. In particular, Dr. Eger provides support to military veterans suffering from PTSD and combat related stress. People of all backgrounds find empowerment and hope in her message of “Choice”. “Suffering is universal”, she teaches, “but victimhood is optional.” We can’t control what happens to us, but we always have a choice how we respond.
Readers should know that this is a Holocaust book, with all of the implied sorrow and heartbreak. However it is also a book about triumph and resiliency. Dr Eger’s story provides meaningful insights and powerful inspiration for all of us ready to embrace the choices we have in our own lives.
originally published in the summer 2021 issue of The Jewish American Warrior.
