Damon Mcknight
Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, left Austria in 1938 with his family to escape Nazi persecution. Freud, his wife Martha, and their daughter Anna left Vienna on June 4, 1938, on the Orient Express, bound for Paris and eventually London. The decision to flee was prompted by the German annexation of Austria in March 1938, which placed Austrian Jews like Freud and his family in immediate danger, and the interrogation of Anna by the Gestapo.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year the Freud family left Austria | 1938 |
| Month and date the Freud family left Austria | 4 June |
| Transport used to leave Austria | Train, Orient Express |
| Destination after leaving Austria | Paris, London |
| Reason for leaving Austria | To escape Nazi regime, daughter Anna interrogated by Gestapo |
| Family members who left Austria | Sigmund Freud, his wife Martha, their daughter Anna, housekeeper Paula Fichtl, Dr. Josephine Stross |
| Family members who stayed in Austria | Four of Freud's sisters |
| Family members who died in concentration camps | Dolfi, Pauli |
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What You'll Learn
Sigmund Freud's daughter, Anna Freud, was interrogated by the Gestapo
Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, fled Austria in 1938. This came after his daughter, Anna Freud, was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo.
Anna was the youngest of Freud's six children and was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1895. She was a prominent psychologist and psychoanalyst in her own right, recognised as the founder of child psychoanalysis. She was also the Secretary to the International Psychoanalytical Association, a professional association for psychoanalysts.
On March 22, 1938, Anna was arrested and taken to Gestapo headquarters. She was interrogated for nearly 12 hours about the International Psychoanalytical Association, as the Gestapo believed psychoanalysis was part of a Jewish conspiracy. Anna was released later that day, but her arrest added urgency to her father's decision to leave Vienna.
Sigmund Freud was able to buy safe passage out of Austria for himself and 15 other family members and close friends, including Anna, with 31,000 Reich marks. They left Vienna by train on June 4, 1938, bound for Paris, and eventually settled in London. Freud's escape was not easy, and considerable diplomatic and international pressure was required for him and his family to be allowed to leave.
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The Freud family's escape to London
Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology and founder of psychoanalysis, fled Austria in 1938 with his family. The Freud family left Vienna on 4 June 1938, bound for Paris, and from there, they travelled to London.
The Freud family's escape from Austria was prompted by the growing threat of Nazism. In March 1938, Hitler's annexation of Austria placed Austrian Jews in immediate danger. Freud, a prominent Jewish figure in Vienna, witnessed his apartment and publishing house being raided. The situation became even more urgent when Freud's daughter, Anna, was arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo.
Freud, his wife Martha, and their daughter Anna, boarded the Orient Express to Paris, accompanied by their housekeeper Paula Fichtl and Dr Josephine Stross, who replaced Freud's regular physician, Max Schur, who had appendicitis. Upon their arrival in Paris, they stayed at the home of Marie Bonaparte before boarding the night train to London.
Freud's escape was facilitated by Ernest Jones, the then President of the International Psychoanalytic Association. Jones used his connections and resources to secure immigration permits for the Freud family to enter Britain. Freud's wealth and social connections also played a role in their escape, as he was able to pay a substantial sum of 31,000 Reich marks for safe passage out of Austria.
The Freud family's arrival in London was a notable event, attracting widespread press coverage. They initially stayed in temporary accommodation in north London before establishing their new family home in Hampstead at 20 Maresfield Gardens in September 1938. Freud's architect son, Ernst, designed modifications to the building, including the installation of an electric lift. Despite their successful escape, the Freud family left many friends and relatives behind, some of whom perished in the Holocaust.
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The Nazi threat in Austria
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, lived and worked in Vienna, having set up his clinical practice there in 1886. Freud, an atheist born to Jewish parents, was dismayed by the requirement in Austria for a Jewish religious ceremony upon his marriage to Martha Bernays in 1886. Freud and his family lived in an apartment in Vienna from 1891 until 1938.
In the 1930s, Nazi Germany pursued an aggressive foreign policy, which resulted in World War II in 1939. The Nazi threat to Austria had been clear for years, and in 1933, Hitler assumed broad dictatorial powers as chancellor of Germany. That same year, Austria was in political turmoil, following the suspension of its parliament. In May 1933, Nazis burned Freud's books in Berlin. Freud's sons, Oliver and Ernst, decided to leave Berlin, where they had established their careers and settled their families. However, Freud remained in Vienna.
On July 25, 1934, Austrian Nazis attempted to overthrow the Austrian government. Members of the Vienna SS took control of the Austrian chancellery and shot and killed Chancellor Dollfuss. Other plotters seized control of the state radio station in Vienna and announced the coup. Outside Vienna, other Austrian Nazis also revolted against the government. This resulted in civil war, with the police, army, and their paramilitary supporters winning the confrontation by February 14, 1934. The Austrian Republic was then transformed into the Austrofascist Ständestaat.
In February 1938, Hitler met with Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg and repeatedly threatened to invade Austria, forcing Schuschnigg to implement measures favorable to Austrian Nazism. On March 11, 1938, Hitler gave the Austrian government a series of ultimatums, including the demand that Austrian president Wilhelm Miklas appoint Austrian Nazi Arthur Seyss-Inquart as the new Austrian chancellor. If these demands were not met, the German military would invade Austria. This event, known as the Anschluss, took place over three days in March 1938, when Nazi Germany annexed Austria. The Anschluss was the Nazi German regime's first act of territorial aggression and expansion and resulted in an outburst of public violence against Austria's Jewish population.
Freud and his family left Vienna on June 4, 1938, bound for Paris, and eventually settled in London. Freud's daughter, Anna Freud, had been arrested and taken to Gestapo headquarters just days before their departure, adding further urgency to their decision to leave. Freud died on September 23, 1939, in London.
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The Freud family's life in Vienna
Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, lived and worked in Vienna, having set up his clinical practice there in 1886. He was born in 1856 in the Moravian town of Freiberg, in the Austrian Empire, and qualified as a doctor of medicine in 1881 at the University of Vienna.
In 1886, Freud entered private practice, specialising in "nervous disorders". The same year, he married Martha Bernays, with whom he had six children: Mathilde, Jean-Martin, Oliver, Ernst, Sophie, and Anna. From 1891 until 1938, the Freud family lived in an apartment at Berggasse 19, near Innere Stadt in Vienna.
Freud was a well-known figure in the cafes and streets of Vienna. He was determined to remain in the city, even as the Nazi threat grew in the early 1930s. In 1933, as Hitler assumed dictatorial powers in Germany, Freud's books were burned in Berlin, and his sons, Oliver and Ernst, left for France and England, respectively. However, Freud remained in Vienna, writing to his nephew, "we are determined to stick it out here to the last."
In 1938, as the Freud family prepared to leave Vienna, Anna Freud's colleague, August Aichhorn, asked a photographer, Edmund Engelman, to document their apartment and Freud's consulting rooms at Berggasse 19. These spaces later became the inspiration for the design of Freud's new home in London.
Finally, on June 4, 1938, the Freud family left Vienna, bound for Paris, and eventually settled in London. They established their new family home at 20 Maresfield Gardens, where Freud continued to see patients and work on his books until his death in 1939.
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Sigmund Freud's escape from Nazi Vienna
Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology and founder of psychoanalysis, lived and worked in Vienna, having set up his clinical practice there in 1886. He was a well-known figure in the cafes and streets of Vienna. However, his Jewish heritage and his work, which was seen as an affront to the Nazi ideology, put him in danger when the Nazis rose to power in Germany and began their annexation of Austria.
In March 1933, Hitler assumed broad dictatorial powers as chancellor of Germany, and that same month, Austria's parliament was suspended, leading to political turmoil. Freud's work was publicly burned by Nazi sympathizers in Berlin in May 1933. Despite this, Freud remained in Vienna, writing to his nephew Sam in July 1933, "we are determined to stick it out here to the last."
However, as the Nazi threat grew, Freud's colleagues and friends begged him to leave. Finally, in March 1938, after Hitler's annexation of Austria, Freud's apartment and publishing house were raided, and his passport was confiscated. His daughter Anna was arrested and questioned by the Gestapo, and only released later that day. This added urgency to Freud's decision to leave Vienna, which he had made only days before.
Freud chose England as his place of exile, and his departure was aided by Ernest Jones, who pulled strings in London to ensure the Freuds got entry permits. On June 4, 1938, Sigmund Freud, his wife Martha, and their daughter Anna left Vienna forever, taking a train to Paris and then on to London. Freud's escape from Vienna was complex and dangerous, and considerable diplomatic and international pressure was required to secure his safe passage.
Freud's new family home was established in Hampstead, London, and he continued to see patients there until the terminal stages of his illness. He also worked on his last books, including "Moses and Monotheism," which was published in German in 1938 and in English the following year. Freud died on September 23, 1939, at the age of 83, debilitated by oral cancer.
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Frequently asked questions
Sigmund Freud decided to leave Austria in 1938 after his daughter Anna was interrogated by the Gestapo for nearly 12 hours.
Sigmund Freud, his wife Martha, and their daughter Anna left Vienna on June 4, 1938, on the Orient Express.
Sigmund Freud and his family left Austria for Paris, before settling in London.
