Jungian Diaspora

The diaspora had a profound impact on the spread of psychoanalysis to the far corners of the globe. What is not so well known is that the rise of Naziism also had a profound effect on the spread of Jung's psychology. Before taking on that subject, I would like to make a disclaimer about what will not be covered. This paper will discuss neither Jung's relationship to the Nazis nor his attitude toward Jews in general, although this issue will come up in the specific cases of all the individuals discussed herein. Anti-Semitism comes up whenever Jung's name is mentioned in psychoanalytical circles. When the Nazis came to power, there were no official Jungian institutions outside of a lay organization for analysands—no professional societies, no institutes, no training programs. There were only individuals who had sought out Jung for analysis. At that time, if Jung thought the the individual was qualified to practice his methods, he would write a letter of recommendation to that effect. Another caveat: I limit my discussion to those Jewish people who sought out Jung before World War II. There are Jews who became Jungian analysts after World War II who as children either emigrated from continental Europe to other countries or survived the concentration camps. They are not the subjects of this paper.

It is unclear who was Jung's first Jewish analysand. Sabina Spielrein qualifies as the first, but after that there is no definite record. In any case, my father, James Kirsch, began his analysis with Jung in 1928. At the time he was a young psychiatrist in private practice in Berlin. He had had two years of Freudian analysis previously. From 1929 until 1933 he made periodic visits to Zurich, where he saw both Jung and Toni Wolff for analysis. One of my father's patients at that time was Gerhard Adler,