“psychosis.”
In May 1932, Reich began a serious relationship with Elsa Lindenberg a relation-
ship that led to the final denouement of his marriage to Annie.
Born in Germany in 1906, Elsa was the youngest of five children. Her father was
a book printer, an active Social Democrat, and a man who loved music. He died when Elsa
was six, so the family suffered great financial difficulties. Her mother, a sensitive person who
often read poetry to the children, had to take a job in a factory. From an early age Elsa was
interested in dancing and was to make that her career. In 1919, when she was thirteen, an
older brother was killed in the Spartacus (Communist) uprising in Berlin. Some years later,
Elsa felt committed to carrying on her brother’s work and became a Communist herself^10.
At the time she met Reich, Elsa was a dancer with the City Opera of Berlin as well
as a political activist. In her mid-twenties she was a strikingly attractive woman, to judge
from various dance photographs in her Oslo apartment when I interviewed her in the
- She had already heard about Reich, who was then thirty-five, from a friend who was
a member of the same Communist cell as Reich^11. Her friend had told her that she should
meet Reich—he brought new ideas to politics. But, he also laughingly warned, she should
watch out; he was very “seductive.”
Reich and Elsa first noticed each other on a train taking them to the May Day
demonstration in Berlin. She had been struck by his giving her (a total stranger) his coat to
hold while he temporarily went to another carriage. Then, during the demonstration march,
Elsa was looking for someone to walk with who would be good company and could also
serve as a protector. Noticing two sympathetic-looking men, one of whom was Reich, she
began walking with them.
Elsa observed that Reich exerted a strong influence on people. When he stepped
out of the row of marchers, a group would follow him. She also noticed his fury when Nazi
hecklers made threatening gestures. It was all he could do to restrain himself from fighting
back.
Elsa and Reich were strongly attracted to each other from the start. Elsa remem-
bers that they put their arms around one another, more preoccupied with their growing
infatuation than with the boring speech by a Communist leader that ended the demonstra-
tion.Afterward they began to see each other frequently. When Elsa learned of his marriage,
she wanted to break off the relationship. Reich made it clear to her that he no longer loved
his wife, but he was deeply upset by the prospect of separating from the children.
The relationship continued to grow in intensity. It was far more serious than Reich’s
previous affairs. Reich has described Elsa as one of the few women in his life whom he truly
loved. Finally, when the break-up with Annie was becoming more and more of a reality, Elsa
urgently suggested a meeting with them both to discuss the situation. (Reich had made no
effort to keep the affair secret; in fact, the word “affair” hardly describes his relationship
with Elsa.) During part of the meeting Annie and Elsa talked alone, as Willy had stepped
outside.Later, Annie wrote a note that contained the sentence: “Your [Elsa’s] happiness will
be built on my tears.” However, when Elsa offered to withdraw because of the children,
186 Myron SharafFury On Earth