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Vienna, April 24, 1932
IX., Berggasse 19
Dear friend,
Among the wished-for effects of the Rundbrief I am also counting on having received news from you, for, with all the undemandingness that I have acquired over the years, I still can't conceal the fact that your interest has failed me noticeably lately.1
Well, I am pleased about having shaken up our members to participate in the fate of the Verlag. I won't bother about the details of giving aid for a
while. The groups should confer, make suggestions, and direct them to the president in Berlin. Martin, whom we have alone to thank for the fact that we have avoided an ignominious bankruptcy, is prepared to give any desired information. I will also present Lajos's plan to him. I have only to remark that the— probably unfulfillable— task of procuring my outstanding fees should not be among the concerns of the IPA.
I don't share your opinion about the worthlessness of the greater part of the psychoanalytic literature, although I do share to a large extent your critical views. Without such ruminations, returning in countless combinations, mixtures, contaminations, an assimilation of the material would not be able to occur. I also don't believe that we will be able to provide for our nourishment with concentrated nutrient pills. The worst of these contaminations, in which the purity would be choked off, were, after all, supposed to have been kept away by the selection made by the Verlag.
You, too, will have heard in how sad a way the Eitingon firm has broken down, so that the members of the family are completely impoverished.2 Our friend has fallen ill with a paresis of the left arm,3 certainly under the effect of this material catastrophe. He is improving, but the incident casts a dim light on his brain circulation. I hope you will find in yourself the willingness to sacrifice the comforts of your isolation to date to the duties of a leader of the movement.
With kind regards to you and Frau Gisela.
Yours,
Freud