Freuds' War

by Helen Fry

Despite his worldwide reputation as the father of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud's security in his native Vienna changed overnight when Hitler's forces annexed Austria on 12 March 1938. His books had already been burned across Germany, and now he and his family were at immediate risk. The Nazis carried out regular raids on Jewish families' homes, and the Freuds were no exception. They suffered a period of house arrest and two months of uncertainty before finally securing papers for emigration to England and making a dramatic, last-minute escape. Following their escape from Austria, both Sigmund's son Martin and his grandson Walter enlisted in the British Forces, going on to fight for Britain behind enemy lines in Austria. Using previously unpublished family archives and photographs, including correspondence and Sigmund Freud's diary, Helen Fry opens a window into the Freuds' family life both in pre-War Vienna, and during the Second World War in Britain, with their homeland under the influence of the Nazis.

Genres: World War II, History

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Helen Fry has written numerous books on the Second World War with particular reference to the 10,000 Germans and Austrians who fought for Britain in the war.

Other books by Helen include histories of various Anglo-Jewish communities, including The Lost Jews of Cornwall (with Keith Pearce); and The Jews of Exeter. Her titles also include books on Christian-Jewish Dialogue. Her textbook Christian-Jewish Dialogue: A Reader has been translated into Russian, Czech and Polish.

Helen has branched out into fiction with James Hamilton under the pseudonym JH Schryer. Together they have written two novels of historical fiction and been in development on scripts with Green Gaia Films for a TV drama based on their novels.

Helen is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Dept of Hebrew & Jewish Studies at University College London and Lecturer at the London Jewish Cultural Centre. She is a member of The Biographers’ Club, The Society of Authors and an Honorary member of The Association of Jewish Refugees.

Reviews

[Ira Therebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very remarkable book about Freud's family. This is not a Sigmund Freud biography, actually he dies in the middle of the book right at the start of the WW2. It mainly concentrates on his son Martin and grandson Walter.

We go through all different stages in their life. Starting with the days before WW1, then WW1, the times in between and then in great detail for the most part of the book we find out about their lives during the Nazi times and WW2.

This book had many fascinating parts for me. It was very interesting to read how the Freud family was facing the beginning of Nazi Reich. Some sort of denial that what will happen in Vienna won't be as bad and then getting in real danger. The fact that Freud was the father of psychoanalysis and a big name did not help them. Actually not all of his relatives could escape.

Another interesting part for me to read was the time when they were in England and treated as "enemy aliens". This is the part of WW2 which I had very little knowledge of and in a way I found it a bit shocking.

Besides this I found the whole book not any less interesting. Their life during peace, Martin's service in WW1, Walter's in WW2, their letters of communication with each other as well as with Sigmund Freud were very interesting as well.

The book is also written very well. I usually find war books a bit hard, but this one was going very smoothly and easily for me. Helen Fry did a great job of keeping me hooked by going through major details and also by providing other sources such as letters, biographies of them and their friends and also some unpublished work. I really recommend it to anyone who is interested in history, Freud or WW2.