Appreciation of Nature and Beauty
If someone had seen our faces on the journey from Auschwitz to a Bavarian camp as we beheld the mountains of Salzburg with their summits glowing in the sunset, through the little barred windows of the prison carriage, he would never have believed that those were the faces of men who had given up all hope of life and liberty.
“One evening, when we were already resting on the floor of our hut, dead tired, soup bowls in hand, a fellow prisoner rushed in and asked us to run out to the assembly grounds and see the wonderful sunset. Standing outside we saw sinister clouds glowing in the west and the whole sky alive with clouds of ever-changing shapes and colors, from steel blue to blood red. The desolate grey mud huts provided a sharp contrast, while the puddles on the muddy ground reflected the glowing sky. Then, after minutes of moving silence, one prisoner said to another, “How beautiful the world could be…”
“I called to the Lord from my narrow prison and He answered me in the freedom of space.”
“For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.”
Mountain Climbing
Viktor Frankl : Mountain and Meaning: Elisabeth Lukas Through climbing, Viktor Frankl reinforced his inner strength, which he called »defiance of the mind«. According to Frankl, this helped him to overcome his own fear of heights and more importantly to survive four concentration camps. In the mountains, the world-famous psychiatrist was »just Viktor« as his wife Elly put it. Not an exceptional alpinist, but a true friend of the mountains, with heart and soul.