HELEN FRY

Despite his worldwide reputation as the father of modern psychology, Sigmund Freud’s security in his native Vienna changed overnight when Hitler’s forces annexed Austria on 12 March 1938.

 

His books had already been burned across Germany, and now he and his family were at immediate risk. The day Hitler sent his troops over the border into Austria, Sigmund Freud scrawled across his diary “Finae Austriae” (Austria is finished).

 

The Nazis carried out regular raids on Jewish families’ homes, and the Freuds were no exception. They suffered a period of house arrest and two months of uncertainty before finally securing papers for emigration to England.

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It was after becoming refugees, however, that the Freuds’ story takes a fascinating turn. Following their dramatic escape from Austria, both Sigmund’s son Martin and his grandson Walter enlisted in the British Forces, with Walter going on to fight for Britain in SOE behind enemy lines in Austria.

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This book presents previously unpublished family archives and photographs, including Sigmund Freud’s diary, as Helen Fry opens a window onto the Freuds’ family life in pre-war Vienna.