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Walking into History

“Would you like to meet my grandmother?”

This simple question opened a whole new realm of information for psychology associate professor Dr. Susan Cordes-Green and her students. Six years ago, Cordes-Green and her students were visiting the Frankl Institute in Vienna during a seminar abroad. The Frankl Institute was selected as a destination because it is dedicated to the work of famous psychiatrist Viktor Frankl who developed logotherapy, which operates on the premise that humans are motivated by finding meaning in life. Frankl wrote “Man’s Search for Meaning” about his time in concentration camps and how living for his family gave him meaning to continue.

Cordes-Green answered quickly with “of course.” The man asking the question was Alexander Vesely, Viktor Frankl’s grandson. His grandmother was none other than Elly Frankl, Viktor Frankl’s wife.

“She came over from her home next door and she was just so charming,” Cordes-Green says. “She loved talking to the students and said she loved to talk to Americans because ‘Americans freed my Viktor.’”

Elly Frankl spoke briefly with the students, who were honored to get the opportunity. Two years later, another group of students was touring the institute and she came over to speak with them. She talked about Viktor, his work and his life, sharing nuggets of wisdom and even giving a bit of relationship advice to the college students. 

Fast forward to 2018. The students knew Elly Frankl had conversed with Cordes-Green’s seminar group in the past, but they really didn’t dare hope she would meet with them during this seminar. She had been widowed more than 20 years and as she advanced in age the group knew she might not be up to entertaining more Americans with her kind hospitality.

As the group toured the museum, the guide who was to give them a lecture, Harald Mori, a personal friend of the Frankls, went next door to greet Elly. Upon his return, he told the students that Elly would like them to go to her apartment. 

“Harald told us that she had never done this before, but she likes these American students from Concordia,” Cordes-Green says. 

The students stepped into history while Elly showed them Frankl’s awards, the room in their home where he saw patients, and talked about his work.

“To see his desk and being there with Elly was remarkable,” says Dr. Darcie Sell, associate professor of psychology. “It was wonderful having her describe how he was constantly working and the passion he had for that work in that space.” 

Both Cordes-Green and Sell say the experience brings a living presence to the work these students will do someday.  While Elly had to stop her career aspirations after marrying Viktor, she didn’t stop having a profound effect on the world. She was his typist – but what’s more, she translated his work so people would read it. 

“She typed every word he wrote for his books,” Cordes-Green says. “Elly Frankl says her husband was a very good writer, but he wrote for doctors and not for real people. She would re-write and simplify.”

While speaking to the students, Elly also wanted them to realize the importance of each person. While she had personally known Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr., among other famous people – she told the students we are all just people with the same needs, to be cared about. It would have been easy to be star-struck by just the place and the information about the work of Viktor Frankl, but Sarah Kuball ’19 says what gave her pause was “the humble, kind, and compassionate” person they met in Viktor’s wife.

“She talked to us as if she had known us for years and she explained how she is good at talking with people because everyone is a human being,” Kuball says. “Elly opened my eyes to understanding really how fortunate I am and I cannot wait to use this knowledge to help me succeed in my future career as a counseling psychologist.”