Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a story not only about Frankl's survival in the Auschwitz concentration camp, but also discusses the internal struggle he endured while in those camps. Frankl, among the other captives, suffered through a great amount of pain, not only physically, but mentally as well. This pain became so great at times, that many could not bear this turmoil, and in turn, gave up all hope for survival. The reason for this lack of hope depended on one thing according to Frankl: being able to see the meaning in their suffering. Without a purpose to live, without meaning in one's life, one was certainly guaranteed to throw in the towel and give in to their mind which was telling them that it was not worth it, but this was not the case for Viktor Frankl. He used his psychiatric training to help himself and others see that their future was not over just because they were stuck in this camp. He gave them the strength to face the worst, to accept it, and to know that they would survive and return to the love they once knew.
The gruesome detail Frankl uses to describe the conditions and treatments of the prisoners clearly shows the wrong doing directed toward them. The situation in general is an act of ontic evil. Just the fact that these camps were even created to make men and women suffer shows how much evil really exists in this world. The officers/guards of the camps on the other hand exhibited moral evil because they were being forced to treat other humans as animals. It was not their choice to act in this manner, but there were consequences if they didn't nonetheless. Many of the guards could not take the responsibility of beating individuals, and became prisoners themselves. If you really think about it though, put yourself in their position. Would you be able to beat another human being? Would you be able to strip them of their clothes, their families, their pride and have no emotion over it? I know I couldn't.
