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There is no greater thrill for a researcher than to discover something previously unknown in his chosen field. The frustrations and tedium vanish as one realizes the significance of a document that one is holding in one's hands. I had this experience while going through the Ernest Harms collection at the Kristine Mann Library in New York. I came across a ‘lost’ interview that Jung had given to Werner Meier and which had been published in the Schweizer Illustrierte on August 12, 1942 (No. 33, p. 1040). It was not included in C. G. Jung Speaking nor mentioned in any other bibliographic reference; it is particularly important because it dates from a period in Jung's career which is less documented than are the years before and after the war.
The interview's authenticity can be established beyond a reasonable doubt. Such internal evidence as theme, factual references, and tone all support its authenticity. In addition, it was accompanied by a photo of Jung probably taken by the reporter or made available to him. Finally, within a week the interview became the subject of articles in at least two other Swiss newspapers, Vaterland (Luzern, August 19) and Die Nation (Bern, August 20). Concerns about how accurately it reflects what Jung actually said can be laid to rest by the fact that the interview is presented in a very straightforward style without journalistic embellishment: it is composed of a series of four questions followed by what definitely seems to be Jung's verbatim responses.
The interview is in a collection put together by Ernest Harms who is best remembered in Jungian circles for the article he wrote for The Psychiatric Quarterly in April 1946. Entitled ‘C. G. Jung: Defender of Freud and the Jews’, it forcefully responded to the postwar charges that Jung was anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi.(1) Harms was in a unique position to write it since he had been a member of the General Medical Society for Psychotherapy which was later reorganized and headed by Jung. He later