You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
She was one of the psychoanalysts who had managed to escape the Nazis and come to the States, and indeed she was resilient and flexible enough to prosper in the New World. Her unique combination of respect for others, unquestionable personal integrity, and uncommon youthful vitality made her someone children intuitively trusted. As a result she not only flourished as a child analyst, but with her rare passion for psychoanalytic inquiry she also eventually became the cherished teacher of a new generation of child analysts in the several cities in which she lived during the journey of her American career.
As I have heard tell, at one point she visited friends from the old country who had managed to immigrate to Brazil. They too had established clinical careers, but like her they had hoped to settle in the States. Now, after several years and very many unsuccessful applications, they had at last obtained their longed-for visas. But they had a problem.
Although for several generations their families had been secure in their homelands, they themselves had lost almost everything in their running away from tyranny. No longer trusting in security, now believing that safety might always be fleeting, they had taken their modest new savings and invested them in Brazilian emeralds. If ever again they had to move precipitously, at least some of their wealth would be portable.
But what to do about their visas to the States? If they declared the true value of the gems, the import taxes would take away a significant portion of the tiny amount they had accumulated. If they did not declare the gems but were found to be hiding them at the time of travel, they might lose all future hope of entry. The risks were great.