American Imago

1. Bernfeld, Siegfried. An Unknown Autobiographical Fragment by Freud.

2. Bonaparte, Marie. The Legend of the Unfathomable Waters.

3. Barag, G. G. The Mother in the Religious Concepts of Judaism.

1. Bernfeld, Siegfried. An Unknown Autobiographical Fragment by Freud. In 1899 Freud wrote a paper on screen memories (Ueber Deckerinnerungen.  Mo. f. Psychi. u. Neurol,  6. 1899. Ges. Schr.  1. p.  472ff.) in which the patient was a 38 year old man. The screen memory involved three little children of two or three, who are picking yellow flowers. The two little boys take the flowers from the little girl. She runs to her nurse and gets some bread. Then the two little boys also run to the nurse and also get some bread which to the patient is recalled as having been delicious. The grasp of analytical knowledge of this patient and his style (in 1899) suggest that the patient may have been Freud himself. The background in the screen memory as well as the associations to the memory are so similar to the period in Freud's childhood (which is known) and to later periods as to confirm the supposition. The taking of the flowers represents a defloration fantasy and the bread is the symbol of economic security. Freud's family did go through a period of hardship after his third year and if the supposition is true, his father attempted to arrange for him to give up his studies somewhat to have a more secure marriage with a girl in a prosperous family in the setting of his childhood. Mention also is made of Freud's early economic struggles and self analysis of a phobia. “Since the comparison of all the known data shows a perfect correspondence between Mr. Y and Freud and since the occurring discrepancies or the lack of them seem to be explained plausibly enough, I feel it is safe to assume that in the case history of the man of thirty eight, Freud presented himself. This identification puts some new material at the disposal of the students of Freud's life and personality. In this paper I d