Book: Man’s Search for Meaning
Author: Viktor Frankl
Genre: Non-Fiction
Why I Read This Book:
While being in this Federal Prison Camp over the last 5 months, I have read many non-fiction books and several of them have mentioned “Man’s Search for Meaning”. Two of the books were written by former inmates. Add all that up and I HAD to read it as well.
Why is this book so popular among those who had been incarcerated? By no means is being an inmate inside any level of Prison in this Country a direct comparison to being in a Nazi Concentration Camp furing World War II. However, the reason why a book written in 1946 by a survivor of such a camp that is still popular today can only be attributed to the common link in the necessity of having mental strength as a prisoner.
What is your meaning of life? Why do you need to keep moving forward? Why do you need to continue to get up in the morning although there are days in which you don’t know if it is Tuesday or Saturday? Viktor Frankl explains it all in this book. Which is why it should be MANDATORY reading for all inmates.
What I Learned:
When Viktor Frankl arrived at the Nazi owned Auschwitz Camp during World War II, they were immediately separated into several lines. Men, women, and children segregated first. Then the men were separated based on their perceived ability to do manual labor. Those that were deemed good specimens for hard labor were in one line. Those that were not, were separated into a separate line and it has been well documented as to what the consequences of being in the “non-working” line were and I have no need or desire to go into further detail.
The days of the working prisoners consisted of the following:
–1 piece of bread per DAY or some soup that was basically warm broth and some peas. –Long hikes and extreme manual labor in Winter conditions with minimal clothing so frostbite was as common as hunger.
–Consistent beatings from the officers in charge for not marching in step or for being perceived as not working hard enough.
–Sleeping in huts that were often too crowded to lay down straight, not to mention the vermin and disease spreading like wildfire.
The weeks included once again separating into lines of those that could still work (and the reward being you got to live another week) and those that were considered too weak or hurt or sick to work (and again, the opposite reward).
After some time, Viktor Frankl made some key observations which are the backbone of this book. As soon as someone either muttered the equivalent of the words “I give up” or he could read such expression on their face, the countdown immediately started toward their eventual demise. Their organs instantly began to shut down and they would quickly fade away.
For those who continued to live with a purpose in life, for example:
–To see their wife and family again.
–To continue the job they enjoyed back home.
–To prove they could not be broken by evil.
These prisoners continued to move forward and defy all odds of survival.
Again, we inmates today in this Country do not face the same conditions BUT the question is just as relevant to Page 1 of 2 11/10/2022
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they would quickly fade away.
For those who continued to live with a purpose in life, for example:
–To see their wife and family again.
–To continue the job they enjoyed back home.
–To prove they could not be broken by evil.
These prisoners continued to move forward and defy all odds of survival.
Again, we inmates today in this Country do not face the same conditions BUT the question is just as relevant to us as it were to those at Auschwitz or any of the Camps–What is your purpose in Life? What do you consider your meaning of Life?
My only regret of reading this book is I wish there could have been another circumstance Viktor Frankl experienced so he could have still written it.
Why Reading This Book Will Help Me Succeed:
I believe most people pass on answering “What is the meaning of Life?” type of questions because they view it as too broad or too “pie in the sky”. However, for those in Prison, it could be the most important question you could ever answer. Even if you change the question a bit:
–What do I want to get out of this time in Prison?
–How do I want my family to see me when I exit Prison?
–What will be my purpose of living after I am released?
For those that have a meaningful and purposeful definition of such questions, your mind and body will continue to help you push on every day to achieve your goals. For those that “give up”, your mind and body will follow.
If I were to quote all the meaningful parts of this book that I learned from, I could be charged with plagiarism. However, I will choose two. This one, which Viktor Frankl borrowed from Nietzsche:
“He who has a WHY to Live for can bear with almost any HOW.”
And this directly from Mr. Frankl:
“Questions about the meaning of Life can never be answered by sweeping statements. ‘Life’ does not mean anything vague, but something very real and concrete, just like Life’s tasks are also very real and concrete.”
I can not stress this enough to anyone inside Prison–Find your WHY so you can bear with any HOW the Bureau of Prisons throws at you.
About Me:
My name is Jeff Piecka and I was sentenced to 34 months in a Federal Prison Camp in Oxford, WI, after committing and pleading immediately guilty to a white collar crime I committed several years ago. Before self surrendering on June 6, 2022, I promised my wife and family that I WILL exit prison a better husband, son, brother, Christian, future employee, and overall better member of society because I am going to better myself in three ways:
1) Physically–Not just for vanity purposes but a better operating body equals a better operating mind. 2) Mentally–Reading non-fiction books, stories, news papers, and magazines that educate and elevate my mind and expand my vocabulary.
3) Spiritually–For ME, this means learning more from the Bible but it can also mean whatever “Greater Good” you believe in.
Shortly after self-surrendering and reading Michael Santos’s book “Earning Freedom–Conquering a 45 Year Prison Term”, it inspired me to want to help just 1 person who is possibly heading to prison so I started emailing my family Posts that my sister uses to post as a Blog on Reddit dot com called “Letters From Federal Prison”. I believe to date it has over 9,100 views and shares plus there are 3 comments from people advising that the Blog has helped them. This has motivated me to keep writing (which I have NEVER done anything like this before) and I REALLY want to help more people when I return to society next year.
