A Living Tribute to Dr. Lena Allen Shore and Dr. Viktor Frankl
A Living Tribute to Dr. Lena Allen Shore and Dr. Viktor Frankl on International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Dr. Lena Allen Shore and Dr. Viktor Frankl, both Holocaust survivors, shared an abiding friendship through exchanges and meetings with each other after the Holocaust. I was privileged to attend one of their encounters in Dr. Frankl’s apartment in Vienna in the late 1970’s.
Their dialogue centred on their teachings and writings which were dedicated to the continuous relevance given to the meaning of life, in the midst and subsequent to suffering, as an affirmation of life.
With International Holocaust Day,
What can be learned, what can be understood?
How can history be made to be acknowledged
And witnessed for past and present atrocities?
Not only to teach how people had been killed
But what were their dreams, hopes and aspirations?
Gone, yet their lives cannot be forsaken.
And their creative contributions must not be forgotten.
For life to continue for those in their midst
A search for life’s meaning with purpose
Must be found, a reason to arise
From ashes of physical annihilation.
Recognizing the spirit, like energy remains.
This is the contribution of Dr. Lena Allen Shore,
Encouraged by Frankl, to create her Centre for The Advancement of Human Potential.
As she taught and wrote that to affirm life and its intrinsic value gave life its very reason.
Dr Victor Frankl’s teaching of logotherapy,
The capacity of the human spirit
To find meaning in the face of suffering,
Gave resilience to the search for meaning.
With purpose for affirmation to life,
All can be taken away from a person,
Except freedom to choose one’s attitude,
It is that which gives choice to act with dignity.
In her teachings and writings created,
Dr Lena Allen Shore had a key commitment
To interfaith, intercultural understanding,
For her, nothing was impossible, impossible in life.
As she said, when God is with me, I know
Where I have to go; and what I have to do.
Thus, one’s purpose in life is that which gives it meaning.
That meaning is found in every encounter of affirmation of life.
Dr. Lena Allen Shore taught twenty-seven courses at the Centre for the Advancement of Human Potential, founded and affiliated with Gratz College in Philadelphia for over thirty years to over six thousand students; and her legacy remains, as all her courses, seventeen books, writings, including journals as diaries, correspondence, composed music, songs and audio -visual materials will be made public.
Dr. Lena Allen Shore was a scholar, author, philosopher, poet and musical composer who made her life’s work to promote understanding and tolerance after surviving the Holocaust. She was a pioneer in Holocaust studies, while concentrating also on art and philosophy as a background to teachings on life, positive thinking and bridging of all faiths in the context of humanity.
In her collection of seventeen books which she wrote, is included, Building Bridges: Pope John Paul II and the Horizon of Life in 2003, May the Flowers Grow in 1969 and Rendezvous with Love 1991. She was also known for her recorded albums of music and lyrics, including the Little Shoes, a Cantata that was performed as part of the Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.
Key components of the collection at Gratz College:
Literary and creative works include drafts, poems, and musical compositions, reflecting her career as a poet, author and composer.
Personal and historical documents:
Contain personal diaries and correspondence detailing her experience surviving the Holocaust in Poland.
Educational materials:
Teaching materials, including content from her work at the Lena Allen Shore Centre for the Advancement of Human Potential, affiliated with Gratz College.
Digitized content:
The collection is being digitized, with access to her writings.
The papers, include work from her students to provide broader access to her legacy.