THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
16 Friday, December 11, 1982
Psychoanalyst Reminisces About Freud
By MARGUERITE
KOZENN CHAJES
"Reminiscences of a Vie-
nnese Psychoanalyst" is the
VEN5Y-
music
NL – VT
is
855-1400
Talent Agency
FOR A GREAT
PARTY!
A SURE THING
Johnny Chase
Wilmot
Jerry Denby
Fenby-Carr
Shelby Lee
,Eric Freudigman
Carl Ryding
George Brooks
Fascinating Rhythm
Sheldon Yellen
Caricaturists
Rendezvous
ABZ Orchestra
Primos
Harry Teichert Strings
Gigue
Perfect Blend
Mariachi Band
Smiling Faces
Tom Ploeger
Bob Durant
Divertissement
Jay Valle
Tim Hewitt & Feelings
Johnny Griffith
Nate RondeII
Eric Harris
COMPLETE SICKROOM EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES
OSTOMY SUPPLIES
featuring products by
WHEEL CHAIRS • WALKERS
COMMODES • HOSPITAL BEDS
HOLLISTER & SQUIBB
RESPIRATORY EQUIPMENT
EXPERIENCED REGISTERED NURSE ON
STAFF PRIVATE FITTING ROOMS AVAIL.
ELECTRONIC PAIN MANAGEMENT
LICENSED THERAPIST & NURSE ON STAFF
LINDEN MEDICAL SUPPLY, INC.
968-5000
OAK2P11
Specialists in Home Health Care
master charge
A 1 R a OK G
MICH I GAN 4
WE BILL THE INSURANCE
CARRIER — NOT THE PATIENT
ON COVERED ITEMS
8
R 2 0 3 A 7 D
VISA.
7 DAY — 24 HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE
FREE DELIVERY & SET-UP
FREE BLOOD PRESSURE TEST
SALES • RENTAL SERVICE
--
Bravo Iv
Sam's Jams Discount Records
is pleased to announce the
Grand Opening of...
Featuring...
CLASSICAL MUSIC
AT DISCOUNT
PRICES
ALL NEW LPs
30% Off
Mfr. List
3 Days Only
Friday, December 17 11-9
Saturday, December 18 10-6
Sunday, December 19 12-5
(WITH THIS AD ONLY)
Located at
309 W. NINE MILE IN DOWNTOWN FERNDALE
(3 Doors East of Sam's Jams)
PHONE 398-1922
title of an interesting book
just published by the Wayne
State University Press.
It was written by Dr.
Richard F. Sterba, who to-
gether with his wife Editha,
who is also a psychoanalyst,
and their two daughters ar-
rived in Detroit in 1939 as
refugees from Vienna. Dr.
Sterba's family was pure
"Aryan" and could have
stayed on in Vienna even
after Hitler's take-over of
Austria. However, they
chose to emigrate as did
Siegmund Freud, and his
family and all his disciples
and co-workers.
The book is a "hymn of
praise" to Freud. Already in
the preface Sterba writes:
"It would be most gratifying
for me if, by this presenta-
tion of my memories, I could
make it possible for the
reader to empathize .. .
with our envyless admira-
tion for Freud, whom we all
recognized as a genius and a
unique scientific leader."
Starting with the pref-
ace and up to the last
page of the book, the
utter devotion and pro-
found affection of the
author is evident in his
repeated statements.
Sterba was born in Vie-
nna in 1898. The mayor of
Vienna was Dr. Karl
Lueger, the leader of. the
Christian Socialist Party.
This party was connected
with the Catholic Church,
to which more than 90 per-
cent of the citizens be-
longed. Lueger and his fol-
lowers were outspokenly
andi-Semitic.
The anti-Semitism of the -
Church enhanced the hos-
tility toward the Jews that
was traditional in the men-
tality of. the Viennese
"petite-bourgeoisie."
There was also another
powerful party, led by
Georg von Schoenerer. This
party was rabidly anti-
Semitic and advocated the
absorption of Austria into
the German' Reich.
One cannot fail to con-
nect what occurred in
Austrian history at that
point to the consequent
development of Nazism
under Hitler.
Sterba's grandparents
were Czechs, born in
Bohemia. His grandgather
was a tailor. Sterba's father
studied and excelled in
mathematics and physics.
As profession he chose to
teach at a girls' high school.
"Under the German
nationalistic propaganda of
Schoenerer my father be-
came mildly German
nationalistic and anti-
Semitic," Sterba writes.
After serving in the Aust-
rian army during World
War I, Sterba won a schol-
arship and started his medi-
cal studies. He also studied
music and became an ac-
complished violinist and
chamber music performer.
"The first works by
Freud I read were the five
lectures he gave in 1909
at Clark University in
Worcester, Mass. ...
what attracted me most
was Freud's literary style
and his unusually clear
"From January 1938 we
looked with growing ap-
prehension . . . on what we
learned from German refu-
gees about the mistreat-
ment of Jews by Nazis. It
caused us to be greatly
alarmed for the welfare of
Freud in the event that Au-
stria fell victim to the
threatening giant
neighbor."
At the last meeting of
the Psychoanalytic
Society in Vienna in
March 1938, Anna Freud
presided. She asked all
the members about their
future plans. All of them
spoke of emigration.
"When Anna directed the
question to me, I felt that
the other board members
awaited my answer with a
certain uneasiness, since I
was the only non-Jewish
member of the board pre-
sent. When I declared-that I
was determined to emigrate
at the earliest possibility,
my answer was received
with noticeable relief."
Anna then asked her
father, who was in another
room, to join us. He was told
that wherever he would set-
tle, that would be the center
of the society. He • as also
told that all tr e .nembers
intended to leE -e Austria.
"When we got. •-) from our
chairs to take 1€ ve, Freud
remarked: 'Aft( the de-
struction of the ' 'emple in
Jerusalem by Titus, Rabbi
Jochanan ben Sakkai asked
permission to open a school
at Jabneh for the study of
the Torah. We are going to
do the same! We are after all
used to persecution by our
history, tradition and some
of us by personal experi-
ence, with one exception.'
He pointed at me and smiled
benevolently!"
Only a few days after
Hitler's "triumphant" ar-
rival in Vienna, the
Sterba family left for
Basle, Switzerland.
There they learned that
the exit permit for Freud
and his family was finally
granted by the Nazi
authorities. "This was the
result of a concerted
influence of many per-
sonalities in highest posi-
tion in four countries:
the Home office in Lon-
don; W.C. Bullit, the U.S.
Ambassador to France;
an uncle of the King of
Greece and even Musso-
lini intervened."
Freud and his family ar-
rived in London in 1939.
Nine months later he died.
Laura Z. Hobson, the
author of many novels,
among them "Gentleman's
Agreement," secured the af-
fidavit for the Sterbas' im-
migration to America.
Some weeks ago, on the
occasion of the publication
of the. "Reminiscences,"
Sterba announced the es-
tablishment of a "Richard
Sterba Fund" for the benefit
of clinical psychologists and
social workers.
Sterba concludes his book
with this paragraph: "The
reader will have become
aware of the deep affection
that ties me to the man, to
whose cause I have devoted
my life's work."
.
MARGUERITE CHAJES
and beautiful way of ex-
pressing his ideas."
Sterba graduated from
medical school in 1923. Fas-
cinated by the desire to be-
come a psychoanalyst he
joined the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society, ad-
vanced soon and was named
"an associate member."
Sterba proudly mentions
that his graduation certifi-
cate from the Psychoanaly-
tic Society was signed by
Freud himself.
In 1923 he met his future
wife Editha, a fellow
psychoanalytic trainee and
protege of Freud's daughter
Anna. Editha had
graduated from the Vienna
University after studies in
psychology and musicology.
She is a fine pianist.
In May 1926, Freud
celebrated his 70th
birthday. In his home on
Berggasse 19, a building
that is now included in
the sightseeing !,`musts"
of Vienna, he received his
friends and members of
the Psychoanalytic
Society.
Sterba writes: "It was
then, that I was introduced
to and shook hands with the
man who was of such impor-
tance to me and to the
world!
"We all knew of Freud's
cancer (oral) and his sick-
ness was a constant worry
for us. What an ordeal
Freud had to go through
over a period of 17 years,
while his extraordinary sci-
entific productivity re-
mained undiminished!" He
underwent 33 operations.
Sterba devotes an entire
chapter of his book to his fel-
low members of the Vien-
nese Psychoanalytic
Society. He describes "their
manifold talents and char-
acters.
"What tied them to-
gether was the common
cause, that is the study
and promotion of Freud's
work and the devotion to
the extraordinary scien-
tist, humanist and human
'being Siegmund Freud."
Sterba repeatedly de-
scribes the boundless dedi-
cation and admiration of the
professor's disciples. "One
can well imagine that we
analysts felt bombarded by
the barrage to which
Freud's productivity ex-
posed us.. . Freud's spirit
and seriousness hovered
over us, his great personal
dignity and respect-
inspiring superiority .. .
and the greatness of Freud's
scientific edifice . . . obliged
all of us to behave in a dig-
nified manner.