ISBN 978-0-6485862-3-4
PAPERBACK
Frida
Chosen to Die, Destined to Live
“A BOOK DEMANDING TO BE READ.”
~ Christopher J. Mruk Ph.D. Fellow, American Psychological Association Professor of Psychology, Bowling Green State University
When Frida approached me as a student to help her work on this second edition of her book by directing it more toward resilience, I knew that I was about to become the student and she was to be the teacher.
As we went through the first edition talking about the changes she had in mind, it became clear to me that somehow this individual did everything “right” that we know about in terms of recovering from, and growing through, trauma. Her story takes the reader through all the stages of the process. It begins with the most devastating destruction of one’s sense of order about how the world works and the absolute shattering of personal identity. Next we follow her through the common after-effects of confusion, self-blame, betrayal, depression, and anger often associated with the process. Finally, the book leads us through the other side-effects that researchers talk about, especially finding ways to rebuild a sense of meaning, discover a larger purpose in life, being able to love again, and becoming even more than who and what one was before the trauma.
To put it in the simplest terms, this book is alive and powerful in a way that is humbling yet inspiring. It could be read as a story of personal survival, one of psychological transformation, or a journey to spiritual salvation. Anyone who has suffered at the hands of others, people who work with survivors, and those who are interested in the amazing capacity of the human spirit to be resilient could benefit from reading this book.
About the Author
Frida is the only survivor of her family, now married to Rob van der Zaag and the couple has seven children. She graduated from Bowling Green State University Firelands Campus in the State of Ohio with a bachelor’s degree of Arts in Communication. Frida has shared her story of miraculous survival, God’s grace, the power of forgiveness, inner healing and resilience around the world including, Africa, Europe, America and Australia. Frida is also a keynote speaker at high schools, universities, churches, business and not for profit organizations and various women groups.
Frida spoke at the UN Headquarters in New York during the 2016 Annual Commemoration of the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsis. In 2019, Frida spoke at Memorial de la SHOAH in Paris and at the Melbourne Jewish Holocaust Centre.
Frida is also the author of In the School of Resilience.