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and as a Jew, Freud was convinced that one had to recognize and
ultimately to sever ties with one's anti-Jewish enemies - such as J ung
who belonged there characterologically - and was unable to respond
to scientific or logical reasoning. The Spielrein correspondence is
only one place where Freud denounced Jung's anti-Semitism . He
once accused him of "lies, brutality, and anti-Semitic condescension
towards me." Mixing bitterness, resignation, and realism, Freud did
not mince his words to Spielrein: "We are and remain Jews. The
others will only exploit us and will never understand or appreciate us."
After the birth of Spielrein's daughter, Fre'ud wrote to her,
"Now we can think again about the blond Siegfried and perhaps
smash the idol before his time comes."
It
is not implausible to read in
Freud's last letter to Spielrein, dated February 9, 1923, "Lastly, you
will be on home ground," support of her move to Russia and tacit ap–
proval of her return to her Jewish origins. Just as returning to Russia
may have represented a way of liberating herself from her idealiza–
tion ofJ ung, so it may have been her subjective way of accepting her
Eastern European Jewish roots, culture, and environment.
Regarding splits, Freud took the position that in most instances
reconciliation was unproductive. Adversaries had to be so designated ,
diluters had to be opposed, crude misinterpreters had to be jettisoned
or at least labeled popularizers or vulgarizers. Freud's originality as
a thinker, his strength as the founder of an international movement ,
consisted partly in his ability to name and define. He was against
mediators who blurred essential differences.
Spielrein, however, attempted to fuse opposites and to discount
specificity in order to achieve a union of psychological theories and
techniques of analysis. Her strivings for integration may have derived
from her inability to accept endings , her incapacity to tolerate
separation. Equally important, however, was her need for affirma–
tion. To counter the destructiveness she encountered, to offset
J ung's personal sadism toward her, to balance the cruel sexual at–
traction of the
anti~Semitic
Jung to the beautiful and brilliant
J ewess, to reverse the violation of their clinical and professional rela–
tionship, she created mythical linkages, ecumenical visions that
nullified contradictions. She became fascinated by the symmetries
between Jung and Freud and disregarded the asymmetries. In the
process she invented a language of harmony and unity .
DAVID JAMES FISHER
