Psychiatrists under Nazism

Many psychiatrists were persecuted by the Nazis during the Holocaust. A lot of psychiatrists were Jewish or were of Jewish decent. Many escaped to England or America before the deportations started. This wave of immigration started the psychoanalysis movement in America. Most of the immigrants settled in New York.

Sigmund Freud and Wife

One of the most famous psychiatrists was Sigmund Freud who was an Austrian of Jewish decent but was not a practicing Jew and denounced religion. A Nazi, Anton Sauerwald, saved Freud and his family. He was an admirer of Freud’s work and a student of a close friend of Freud. Sauerwald signed Freud’s visa to London prior to his escape. A book was written about the family’s escape, The Escape of Sigmund Freud. In return, Freud’s daughter saved Sauerwald after he was arrested by a Freud’s nephew, a U.S. soldier. Sauerwald also saved some of the families money and property. Some of Freud’s books were saved by Sauerwald and hidden in the Austrian National library.

Viktor Frankl was another psychiatrist persecuted by the Nazis. Unlike Freud, he did not escape and was deported. With his parents and wife, Frankl was sent to Theresienstadt transit camp. Their, he still practiced and worked to prevent suicide among inmates. Eventually, he was deported to Auschwitz. His father got sick and died within the Theresienstadt camp, his mother was gassed at Auschwitz, his brother died in a camp, and his wife died in Bergen-Belsen. His only surviving family member was a sister who had escaped to Australia. His stay in the concentration camps lead to his theory of logotherapy, the thought that everything had meaning. This is the Third Viennese school of Psychotherapy, under Freud and Adler. Frankl was eventually liberated by the Americans.

Viktor Frankl





The Escape of Sigmund Freud by David Cohen

Man’s search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl