Letter from Sándor Ferenczi to Sigmund Freud, October 2, 1927

Internationale Psychoanalytische Vereinigung International Psycho-Analytical Association1

Budapest, October 2, 1927

Dear Professor,

I wouldn't like to let the correspondence with you rest all too long. The main purpose of my letter of today is to thank you for the pleasant and—I would almost like to say, uplifting—hours that I was permitted to spend in your company. I felt as though I had been put back in the good old times in which the two of us talked through the still virgin problems of psychoanalysis and in between negotiated with the chances of gathering mushrooms. The mood at the Semmering was certainly first and foremost due to the restoration of your health—but perhaps also to the conviction that neither the time nor the many storms that are howling around us can ever change anything in the solidity of our personal and scientific bond.

I feel very well here in Budapest. I found everything the way it was. The members of the group were diligent in my absence, in fact, their activity increased. I want to further this tendency, and I hope in not too long a time find a house and home for an outpatient clinic and a training institute. I know that you don't care much for us Hungarians—but there is something like injustice in extending antipathy toward the country and its rulers also toward those who struggle under such difficult conditions. I think that somewhat more trust and encouragement on your part would significantly strengthen us in this struggle—but you seem entirely or in large part to have given up on this country—and this pessimism is enough to paralyze our energy.

Yesterday was the first orientation session, in which we discussed only administrative questions (publication of Hungarian writings, plans for founding an outpatient clinic). Dr. Hermann is a great help to me as secretary.

Kindest regards to your loved ones and to you yourself.

Yours,

Ferenczi