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3 August 1914
69 Portland Court, London
Dear Professor Freud,
I wonder if you received my letter written a week ago? It is such an anxious time for everyone that the difficulty in communication makes it doubly hard. I am sending three copies of this letter, in the chance of at least one arriving. I have not seen your daughter since I last wrote to you, but have heard from her and from her friend. She seems very comfortable and calm, and does not mention anything about returning to Austria, but that was before the worst news of the general war. If it is necessary for her to return I could certainly get her as far as the Austrian frontier, for there are several ways of doing this, and it will be possible throughout the whole war; but I have no knowledge as to whether railway travelling inside Austria is permitted or how long the traffic will be held up by the demands of the army, e.g. from Trient or Zurich. I await your instructions in this, as in other matters, but in the meantime you may feel safe that your daughter is in good hands and has many friends in England. She is in excellent health.1
A letter from Ferenczi tells me he must join the Hussars, but in a medical capacity. A postcard from Rank did not mention the war. You may imagine how eager I am to hear from some of you, and to know what is happening. Do your sons have to serve, and do many of our friends in Vienna?
There is very little feeling in England. We are prejudiced against Germany and also do not like Russia, but the fear of the latter is nearer home than of the former,2 which will come many years hence. Austria is unpopular for getting everyone into trouble, but her attitude towards the Slav danger is fairly well understood. No one doubts here, however, that Germany and Austria will be badly defeated; the odds are too much against them. The whole business is rather Greek, nations being hurled by a compelling fate into wars that no one seeks, and which must bring inevitable disaster to all. My chief fe