Describe symbolism in Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Frankl notes that arriving at the camp, his most cherished possession, a manuscript that represented years of important work he hoped to publish, was immediately confiscated and destroyed. Although this manuscript had no value to his captors, it was a symbolic gesture that no aspects of personal life or human worth would be permitted among the imprisoned. This action told Frankl that all he had done in his "former" life was now considered meaningless.