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.
The student of the history of psychoanalysis will be delighted to have this little book on Bertha Pappenheim written by her friend, Dora Edinger. The reader, however, must not expect a psychoanalytic study. There is no new information about her family or her early childhood. Her contact with Joseph Breuer and her importance to Sigmund Freud and the origins of psychoanalysis are mentioned in less than one page, where the author refers to 'the unauthorized publication of the patient's identity as Fraulein Anna O'. Bertha Pappenheim referred only once to psychoanalysis in all her published works. She wrote, 'Psychoanalysis is in the hands of the physician what the confession is in the hands of the Catholic priest: it depends on who uses it and how, whether psychoanalysis is a good tool or a double-edged sword'. Psychoanalytic treatment remained strictly forbidden for any person working with her or for her.
As we already know from Ernest Jones, Anna O remained unmarried. In her long life (1859-1936) she became one of the most fearless, courageous, and untiring workers for the emancipation of Jewish women in Germany. With great energy she fought against white slavery, other forms of prostitution, poverty, and tuberculosis, and for the rights and welfare of women.
There are selected quotations from her books, letters, and reports of her travels, a few poems and prayers, and startling sketches of her own obituary—for example: 'The Jewish community of the world—men and women—could be grateful for her social action. But this they are not. What a pity [schade]!' Two charming photographs show 'Fraulein Anna O' as a young woman at the time when she was under the care of Breuer and Freud, and as an impressive, kind, and alert lady of seventy-seven—still of great beauty.