Your enemies and persecutors no doubt have several sources of inspiration in com-
mon ... but I do not think they have concerted their action so as to make it a con-
spiracy. On the other hand, I have never seen sufficient reason to believe that
Eisenhower or other high officials of the U.S. were in agreement or sympathy with
you When I began to ponder on your attitude to the communists, on the one hand,
to Eisenhower and the U.S. government, on the other, I imagined to sense some
sort of unsolved child-parent conflict behind. I am fully aware that I knew too lit-
tle about your infancy and childhood to make the “explanation” I hit upon more
than a mere conjecture. But I mention it all the same, hoping that if there is any
truth in it, it may be of help to you, and if not that it can do you no harm. What I
figured was that at some time in your childhood you had felt rejected by your
beloved mother (as later you were by the communists) and had then turned for
affection to your father, who out of fear for an open conflict with your mother
dared not show openly that he was on your side; little by little the strain of such a
situation became too much for you and you had to repress it. If and how such a
latent conflict has influenced your attitude in later conflictual situations in life, I
think you will know better than I if you just try to find out....On June 22, Reich replied that Raknes was wrong in denying a conspiracy between
the pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Red Fascism. Early in January 1957
(when Reich’s appeal was before the Supreme Court), Raknes commented that “every hon-
est means is permissible if you can thereby free yourself from the dirty tricks of the FDA.”
Reich replied on January 14 that he refused to employ “legal tricks.”
On January 17, Reich wrote his last letter to Raknes. Its main point concerned a ref-
erence in a paper by Raknes to the fact that Reich’s father was “Jewish-born.”^11 Reich
acknowledged this but described at length how his father had moved away from “Jewish
chauvinism” and reared his children in a progressive, international way. Reich himself did
not follow Jewish customs or beliefs and he did not wish to be categorized as a Jew despite
the conventional practice in this matter.
It is interesting that Reich, facing an imminent jail sentence, should have devoted
such attention to the question ofbeing “Jewish-born.” In part, it belongs to his final effort
to clarify the historical record; it is also another manifestation of his angry reaction against
being forced into any position not ofhis own choosing. However, in addition, it seems to
reflect some unresolved feelings about being Jewish, particularly when he was under severe
attack. Part of Reich never really wanted to be an “outsider,” the quintessential Jewish role,
as he had been from his medical school days on as an eastern European immigrant in
Vienna. He was never more an outsider than during his last years even while he yearned for
acceptance by “high government officials.” And he never wanted more not to be a “Jew.”
In November 1956, Reich left Orgonon, never to see it again. He settled in Alban
Towers for another winter. Eva and Bill also lived in Washington for the winter, and Peter
visited Reich during the Christmas vacation.
31 : The Destruction of Orgone Energy Accumulators and the Burning of Reich’s Publications 429