Danish students. Several days later, he heard that she was in a psychiatric hospital because
of attempted suicide. The hospital psychiatrists declared the attempt “the result of treat-
ment,” and turned the case over to the Danish police. They also recommended that Reich’s
visa not be extended.
As a result of the hospital psychiatrists’ opposition, a Danish newspaper on
October 29 called for Reich’s expulsion from the country, in order “to prevent one of these
German so-called sexologists from fooling around with our young men and women and
converting them to this perverse pseudoscience.”^22
Meanwhile, an analytic student of Reich’s, Erik Carstens, had written Freud seeking
to enlist the master’s aid on behalf of Reich. In his reply of November 13, Freud acknowl-
edged Reich’s stature as an analyst but stated that his political ideology interfered with his
scientific work. He refused to join Carstens’ appeal to the Minister of Justice^23.
So, on December i, Reich had to leave Copenhagen. He decided to settle temporar-
ily in Malmo, Sweden. His Danish students planned to hire a boat and commute across the
three-mile strait, and students also were to come from Oslo. Reich’s library and press
remained in Copenhagen.
Soon after he arrived in Malmo, early in January 1934, the Swedish authorities
became suspicious of Reich. The police watched the boardinghouse where he resided. His
commuting students were intercepted and taken to police headquarters for questioning.
Police in Denmark and in Sweden synchronized their activities. Thus, on the same day in
April, Philipson’s home in Copenhagen was searched while he was in Malmo and Reich’s
rooms were scrutinized by the Swedish police.
No charges of any kind were raised against Reich or his students. Friends of Reich
organized a letter campaign protesting his harassment in Malmo. The anthropologist
Bronislaw Malinowski, who was now living in London, wrote a warm letter supporting
Reich. Again Freud maintained his negative position, writing: “I cannot join your protest in
the affair ofDr.Wilhelm Reich.”^24
In late May, Reich’s visitor’s visa expired and he returned, illegally this time, to
Denmark for the summer.
Two aspects of Reich’s hectic movements between Denmark and Sweden should
be underscored. The Danish campaign was the first state attack against him. Hitherto, the
attacks had come from certain groups: the Social Democrats, the Communists, and—with
growing momentum—the psychoanalysts. But starting with Denmark, each government of
the country where he resided became embroiled in legal moves against him.
Secondly, we should note Reich’s striking ability to gather around him immediately
a stimulating and capable group of people. R. L. Leunbach, a leader of the World League
for Sexual Reform, Tage Philipson, and several other Danish followers helped Reich move
to Copenhagen.Then an aristocratic Danish woman, Ellen Siersted, joined his cause and
would later help him publish his Journal for Political Psychology and Sex-economyin I934^25.
In 1932 a Norwegian psychoanalyst, Nic Hoel, had studied in Berlin and become
fascinated by Reich’s work. When she returned to Oslo, she stimulated the interest of her
178 Myron SharafFury On Earth