It was characteristic of Reich to expand his scale of living only after he had been
accused of swindling by the FDA. It was as though he were saying: For years I sacrificed
everything for my work and now you accuse me of running a moneymaking fraud. So I
intend to live well It was as though the sentence confronting him released personal desires
he had long restrained. He embarked on relationships with women (Grethe, Aurora) that
were not centered upon work and a quiet routine as his marriage to Ilse had been.
There is also evidence that Karrer was less submissive than most of his American
associates. In a letter from Washington to Peter, he commented that “people” now treated
him more as they used to treat him in the 1920s. 1 take that reference to mean that people,
especially Aurora Karrer, were less afraid of him.
He was concerned about Aurora’s well-being, for example, urging Peter to try to be
friendly to her. (Not surprisingly, Peter did not especially take to this woman who had
usurped his mother’s role.) And he did other things that differed from his usual pattern, let-
ting Aurora drive his car while he was in it, for instance. Usually in the past, with his need
for control, he had always insisted on driving.
Reich’s attentiveness to Karrer should not be taken to mean that he was about to
alter any basic tenets in order to please her. At some point in their relationship, Karrer made
clear that she wished to be legally married. But after his various experiences, Reich was wary
of legal marriage and the claims partners can exert upon one another, although perhaps with
jail as a distinct possibility he now desired this step.
However, he held to his principles about the conditions of any marriage. In January
1957 he had his lawyer draw up an agreement between Aurora Karrer and himself, an agree-
ment covering in detail the financial responsibilities of the two partners. It is illuminating to
see Reich, given all his legal burdens, carefully working out a marriage contract with Aurora
Karrer, more in the fashion of the 1970s than the 1950s. I do not know if this contract was
ever signed; but it never became operative as they never legally married.
Whatever peace Reich found for himself in Washington did not last for long.
Toward the end of April 1956 he received news of his forthcoming trial, to be held in
Portland,Maine.
29 : Background to the Trial for Contempt of Injunction: 1955-1956 413