Man's Search for Meaning

The Preface provides a short introduction by the author. In this section, Frankl explains why he wrote the book in the first place: “I had wanted simply to convey to the reader by way of a concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones. And I thought that if the point were demonstrated in a situation as extreme as a concentration camp, my book might gain a hearing. I therefore felt responsible for writing down what I had gone through, for I thought it might be helpful to people who are prone to despair” (xiv).

He also tells the story of how he decided not to escape the Nazis, but to let fate take him wherever it might.  It centers on a piece of debris from a synagogue burned down by the Nazis. He writes, “I noticed a piece of marble lying on a table at home . . . He [my father] had taken it home because it was part of the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. One gilded Hebrew letter was engraved upon the piece; my father explained that this letter stood for one of the Commandments. Eagerly, I asked, ‘Which one is it?’ He answered, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land.