The Choice
Page 34
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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