Frankl counselled fellow prisoners in Auschwitz, later writing Man’s Search for Meaning, outlining the concept of survival through finding meaning in the world

Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl’s account of his attempts to rationalise the Holocaust, has been optioned for a film adaptation, according to Deadline.

Frankl, a contemporary of Freud, lost his whole family during the Nazi’s attempted extermination of the Jews. He developed his theory of “healing through meaning”, known as logotherapy, while a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Kaufering concentration camps. He counselled his fellow prisoners, many of whom were suicidal, with a philosophy that argued that striving for meaning, not pleasure nor power, is what keeps us alive.

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His book detailed the psychological reactions that an inmate progressed through during their time in the camps and how their behaviour changed if they survived and were liberated. He argued that men were “decent” or “indecent” regardless of their station. So a Nazi guard who showed kindness could be a decent man, while an inmate who exploited his fellow prisoners for personal gain, could be indecent.

Frankl’s story is being adapted by screenwriter Adam Gibgot, who is also working on The Accidental Genius, the tale of a man who achieves staggering intelligence after waking from a coma. Robert Downey Jnr has been earmarked to star.

“He believed in humanity, and was a beacon of forgiveness and humanism as much as Martin Luther King was for civil rights,” said Gibgot, speaking to Deadline about Frankl. “He saved the lives of many, and would not allow himself to give in to despair. The movie is about the best and worst of humanity, but how out of the worst the best can emerge.”