next report Interview with Dr. Edith Eva Eger Holocaust survivor, psychologist and public speaker   Could you say a few words about your involvement in the Tibet movement? "I'm a friend of Dory [Beatrice, of San Diego Friends of Tibet] who is a wonderful social worker, and that's how I was asked to speak tomorrow. Possibly pointing out to people that even in the darkest places, there is light within. That goes back to the time that I was interned in Auschwitz in 1944 and everything was taken away from us. My parents died in the gas chambers and I saw the flames and the crematorium and I discovered the part of me that no Nazi could take away, and that's the pride and power of the spirit. "And perhaps that's the common thread that [the Tibetans and I] have, not to give up and not to give in. And not to allow anyone to murder that beautiful part of you, your inner resources and your freedom of choice. To be able to acquire the reliance and the perseverance that makes you stronger -- to turn tragedy to victory and triumph. To present that part, perhaps, that commonality, that common thread . . . when everything is taken away from you, no one can really take away that manner in which everything is an opportunity to discover compassion and solidarity. And to live in the present and enjoy every moment. I was among the dead when I was liberated in 1945 -- in May, so it's a good month for me to talk about liberation and freedom. I was given a second chance in life so I like to support people who are capable of turning inward, and I think that's what happens when you walk, and chant and meditate and allow that part of you to come forth." So you think that a walk like this could be a spiritual thing? "Oh absolutely, absolutely! It's beyond the body and the mind. And I believe that the walking is helping people to connect with themselves, and to listen to what your head is telling you, and that the body never lies, to pay attention, be better connected. I wish I could do that. But I'm too busy. ". . . And many of the things that I say, I say to the students. I teach a course at a medical school and teach the young people, giving them the strength that I have received. So when they're going to work with people, they need to treat the whole person -- healing is very different from curing. I have always been fascinated with the eastern philosophies and the concept of being mindful and being able to be awake, I'm very much connecting with that." Have you learned anything about Tibetan healing? "You know, I wish I had learned more about that. I wish I could know about it. All I know is that many things I see now, that people are learning, I have discovered in the classroom of Auschwitz. So I feel in some ways that I had the opportunity to develop that part of me." So do you think that those of us who haven't been through the tragedy . . . "You don't have to go through Auschwitz to know suffering and you don't have to be a cow to know milk. {laughs} You know, I've been saying that all along. I think we've all had our concentration camps, so to speak, especially in our own minds. I work with sexually abused, and I work with Vietnam Veterans and just people that have experienced a lot of trauma in their lives. We're not comparing what happened but what you did with it. The people that are walking are really making a conscious choice that they are going to take time out of their everyday lives, from the external pressures, and lose money, getting away from the everyday pressures of the western life." So do you think that walking and having this personal journey connects to the political situation in Tibet? "Oh gosh, I am so hoping that people that have the desire to merge, and empower each other with their differences -- that the politicians have no other choice but to listen because otherwise they wouldn't be there. The majority of people are going to have a voice, they have to be organized. But each and every one of us -- perhaps in our limited capacity -- does the best we can." So what would be your message to the Chinese people and the Chinese government? "Well, I don't think many times people think about what they're doing, and then they hurt another person, but they're really hurting themselves. To have more conscious awareness of that, that we are all brothers and sisters, we want to enhance each other and price the difference. And I hope that the politics and economics are going to be overruled by human love. Which is God's language." And what would you want your message to be to the Tibetans? "This too shall pass. This is temporary. All problems are temporary. Stay with it, see how you can not give up and not give in. People are far stronger than they think they are. Instead of concentrating on what you don't have, see if you can make every moment precious. Stay in the present. In Auschwitz I was always able to look at the world as not the way it was, but as the way it could be. And I would say 'When I get out of here . . .' even though I was told everyday I would never get out of here alive, so I found the capability to find hope in hopelessness." And if you just wanted to say one thing to all the people that are walking and all the people that have done the walk in the past five years . . . ? "Celebrate the beauty that God has given you one life. That there will never be another you. See if you can shine and see how you can make a difference in what you can give to the world."
		March 2000 Home | Walk Schedule | Co-Sponsors International Tibet Independence Movement PO Box 592 Fishers, Indiana 46038-0592 United States e-mail: rangzen@aol.com HOME Why Independence? | Why is Tibet Important? | What Can I Do? | Archive Links | Important Addresses | Merchandise | E-Mail Asian Map