Man's Search for Meaning
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Viktor E. Frankl
Book
Personal Growth
Man’s Search for Meaning is an autobiographical account of Viktor E. Frankl’s application of his trademark theory, which he calls, “Logotherapy.” He began formulating this theory, which posits that finding meaning and purpose in life is the key to personal happiness and well-being, in Vienna, Austria, before the dawn of Nazi aggression. Later, while imprisoned for three years in first a Nazi ghetto and then in Nazi concentration camps, Frankl applied his theory to his own immediate situation, to console himself and his fellow prisoners.
Because he was Jewish, Frankl was arrested by Nazi German authorities in September 1942, along with his pregnant wife, his parents, and his brother. They were deported from their beloved Vienna and transported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in Czechoslovakia, where Frankl’s father died. Frankl and his remaining family members were next transported to Auschwitz in Poland, where all of them, except Frankl, died.