The Night of Decision

Frankl could have escaped before the deportations began. He had a visa to the United States, but his elderly parents could not leave. Standing in his apartment, he noticed a piece of marble his father had salvaged from a destroyed synagogue. It carried one of the Ten Commandments: "Honor thy father and thy mother."

Frankl tore up his visa and stayed. The choice cost him years in death camps, but it confirmed his deepest belief — that meaning comes from accepting responsibility, even at a severe price. Freely choosing suffering, he later wrote, turns it from something that happens to you into something you take part in. This line between chosen and unchosen suffering became central to logotherapy.