man. In France she had held a position of considerable responsibility, working with a Jewish
organization helping refugees. However, in America the clerical work she was doing bored
her. Clearly, she was ripe for a major experience, personal or professional. Reich, too, was
needy. In a historical account written some years later, Reich described the state of affairs
when Ilse appeared on the scene—the tremendous amount of work that needed attention^6.
Ilse soon began her fourteen-year involvement in “attending” to that “tremendous
amount of work.” In December 1939, he asked her if she would be interested in working
for him, since Gertrud could no longer handle everything herself. The original plan was for
Ilse to take over the secretarial and bookkeeping tasks, while she learned laboratory tech-
niques from Gertrud.
When Reich first met Ilse, he told her of his strong attachment to Elsa but claimed
the relationship was over. As we shall see, this description was far from complete. However,
Ilse had the great advantage of proximity. She was also extremely hardworking, intelligent,
and resourceful. She was open to new ideas and a person of broad culture. An attractive,
youthful woman, twenty-nine to Reich’s forty-two at the time they met, Reich was undoubt-
edly drawn to her sexually. On Christmas Day, they started living together in Forest Hills,
though they were not legally married until 1946. Ilse began working for him on January 2,
1940.
In one way, Reich was relieved to be with someone less passionate and emotional
than Elsa. Joyous as that relationship had often been, it had also taxed Reich. Elsa had
refused to stay in place. Elsa (like Annie before her) had not only a career but a vocation
apart from Reich; neither Annie nor Elsa was willing to make Reich’s work the center of
their professional lives. Ilse was. Moreover, Ilse was the only woman of Reich’s not at all
interested in therapy—either practicing or receiving it. Annie was an analyst and Elsa under-
went psychotherapy several times, and, reflecting Reich’s influence, became a dance thera-
pist who utilized many concepts pertaining to body armor. By the time Reich came to
America, therapy was less than ever at the center of his professional concern. Biology,
physics,and education were what preoccupied him now. In Ilse he had found a woman who
would mold herself to help him to the utmost in fulfilling his daily scientific routine.
Whether it was setting up appointments with patients, preparing biological experiments,
keeping the books,or carrying out household tasks in an efficient, economical way, Ilse did
it all and did it well.
With a mate in place by Christmas, Reich also had his chief co-worker at his side
from the first few weeks. Theodore Wolfe knew English and German well, was a clear writer
and translator, and, in addition, had a remarkable aptitude for editing and publishing. In the
early years, he was full of enthusiasm for the work. He was able to follow Reich in his cur-
rent research on orgone energy, unlike others who had joined Reich at an earlier phase.
Moreover, he felt enormously grateful to Reich for his therapeutic help.
How much therapy Wolfe had with Reich once he was in the United States is uncer-
tain, but Wolfe would undoubtedly see him for sessions when difficulties arose^7. Reich
often had this kind oftherapeutic relationship with American trainees: a period of intense
248 Myron SharafFury On Earth