Edith Eger’s books find wide readership in Ukraine

Ukrainian readers have purchased more than 109,000 copies of works by Edith Eger, reflecting sustained interest in the author’s writing on trauma and resilience. The combined circulation of her three titles — “The Choice: Embrace the Possible,” “The Gift: 14 Lessons to Save Your Life,” and “The Ballerina in Auschwitz” — has already exceeded 109,000 copies.

Of these, “The Choice” accounts for the largest share with 69,190 copies sold, followed by “The Gift” with 37,167, and “The Ballerina in Auschwitz” with 2,941 copies.

In Ukraine, the books were published by Knyholove, which describes the trio as a “multi-layered portrait” of Eger’s life — spanning her childhood, the trauma of the Holocaust, and her later career in psychotherapy. All three titles were translated into Ukrainian by Khrystyna Radchenko.

Born in 1927 in Košice to a Jewish family, Eger trained as a ballerina and gymnast before being barred from competition under anti-Jewish laws. In 1944, following the Nazi occupation of Hungary, she and her family were deported to Auschwitz, where her parents were killed. Eger and her sister survived the camp and were liberated in 1945.

After the war, she emigrated to the United States, where she built a career as a psychologist specializing in trauma. She published “The Choice” in 2017, at the age of 90, bringing her story to an international readership.

Eger died on April 27, 2026, in San Diego at the age of 99.

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Main image: aish

Copy editing: Joy Tataryn