Viktor Frankl

"What is to give light must endure burning." (Viktor E. Frankl.) Viktor Frankl was a very happy young child who was born into this world in Vienne on March 26, 1905. "The middle of three children, young Viktor was precocious and intensely curious. Even at the tender age of four, he already knew that he wanted to be a physician," (C. George Boeree.) While he was in high school, he was very interested in psychology already and was involved in the local Young Socialist Workers organization. Frankl graduated high school in 1925, and went straight to earning his medical degree. After 5 years of following his dreams, finally in 1930 he earned his doctorate in medicine. In 1942, he fell in love and got married, however his happy honeymoon didn't last long. Same year, in September, his whole family was taken in the concentration camp and he was the only survival from everyone whom he knew. In my opinion, a hero is someone who you view as an example and someone you can look up to. It doesn't matter is it's a male or female, a known person or someone who no one really knows. For me, a hero is someone who is there to put hope into people lives, show the new meaning of life and just someone who hasn't given up on humanity. Viktor Frankl possesses two of those qualities, he never gave up on his dream and always looked at his life in somewhat positive point of view and always helped people to find themselves.

Viktor Frankl was a strong man even though his life took him through rough paths, however he never gave up hope in himself and other people. During a time of World War II, he and his family where taken in to the concentration camps, so one article states. "According to the New York Times: 'Viktor Frankl's mother, father, brother and pregnant wife were all killed in the camps. He lost everything, he said, that could be taken from a man or woman, except one thing: `the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way,'" (Contemporary Authors Online.) Even when he lost everything he loved, he never gave up on his life or on other people. Like he states here, "the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way," Viktor has chosen his path of life, and it wasn't running away from problems and committing suicide. Frankl actually tried his best to complete what he was here for and not let the circumstances in his life change anything. Frankl actually tried his best to complete what he was here for and not let the circumstances in his life change how he views it. After everything that has happened to Viktor, "having survived the Holocaust, Frankl returned to Vienna and was in charge of the neurologic Policlinic in Vienna from 1946 to 1970," (Pyka, Marcus.) Overlooking the circumstances that he has been through, he always stayed strong and chased his dreams and never forgotten them. When Holocaust ended, Viktor was one of the very few survivors from many millions of people who passed away. He never wanted to die, when he saw people end their life there who had no hope anymore he still stayed strong and never ever gave up.

In our present world, you can barely see people actually helping others. Viktor was always inspiring man to people, especially the way he had with words. "Frankl gave us a glimpse as to how he came to survive the atrocities of the Holocaust, saying, 'When we are no longer able to change a situation - just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer - we are challenged to change ourselves,'" (Noetic Films, Inc.) As he got his M.D. degree in psychiatry, not only he was a smart man, but he was wise, too. He wanted to help people ad show that there is more to their life than they think. Frankl wanted them to know that there is so much to live for and just because of one little problem you cannot end your life. In an article from Gale, it states. "In the volume, which the New York Times calls "an enduring work of survival literature, " he discusses the importance of finding personal meaning in life, no matter how bad one's circumstances are, as he had had to find personal meaning during his tenure in concentration camps," (Contemporary Authors Online.) As New York Times say that he always said it was importance to find personal meaning in life, because Frankl believed everyone has a purpose, but some people would just give up too reality and forget that they were placed on Earth to create or to make or even to help someone, just making small change counts. "By observing the behavior of the Auschwitz inmates he came to the conclusion that, 'The prisoner who had lost faith in the future - his future - was doomed. With his loss of belief in the future, he also lost his spiritual hold; he let himself decline and became subject to mental and physical decay,'" (Pyka, Marcus.) His experience in World War II, at those horrifying and horrible concentration camps let him look inside of people and what is really going on in them emotionally and mentally. He studied them and tried to help them. Viktor wanted to keep them motivated in their actions and not suicidal even though looking at the harsh circumstances. While he was working as a psychiatrists he helped a lot of people in his whole entire life, while others just wanted to watch the world burn.

Viktor Frankl was and still is a true inspiration to a lot of people including myself. He is worth to be called a true hero because of his actions that included hope in himself and humanity and his meaning in life. "Frankl's philosophy focused on the human need for purpose, self-fulfillment, and the need to attain a higher meaning in life," (Pyka, Marcus.) Looking at right now, the Earth isn't the same anymore. More and more people are dying every year because they commit suicides. They do not acknowledge the point in living and the meaning of life anymore. However, when Victor Frankl was still alive, he wanted to show that there is so much more to it. Yes, it might seem horrendous now, but it is all the about the perspective and how you view it. That is why he created the logotherapy. "Were arrested in Vienna and taken to a concentration camp in Bohemia.and at three other camps that led the young doctor - prisoner 119,104 - to realize the significance of meaningfulness in life," (Noetic Films, Inc.) One of my main reasons why I chose him as my hero is because I find it incredibly astonishing that he has found the true meaning in his life. Not a lot of people find that, and some just find the way to just fit in and live like everyone else. However, he was there to help people who wanted to end their life because of their impression on life that it is meaningless. "Frankl was a noted Austrian psychologist who developed the approach known as logotherapy, which encouraged patients to find personal meaning in their lives," (Contemporary Authors Online.) Viktor Frankl has been through a lot, but those moments and seconds he lived; he never took them for granted. Frankl tried to get most of it and continue his life finding and helping people. This is what makes him a true hero.