3 : Reich’s Childhood and Youth: 1897-1917 45
Ottilie at the time of the birth of their own daughter that he wanted her to feel free as a
child to speak up, indicating he had never had such freedom. And whatever Leon’s oppres-
siveness toward Robert, it was worse toward Willy, since Robert believed he as the second
son was spared some of his father’s strictures.
Another story of Ottilie’s is revealing. Both brothers were prone to temper out-
bursts and when one of them became very furious, the other would shake a finger at him
and say: “Just like Father.”
Relations between the brothers themselves seem also to have been complex. Reich
rarely spoke of his brother. Indeed, some of his old friends did not even know that he had
a brother. On the other hand, Ottilie feels that in the period she knew them both there was
a good deal of affection between them, even if it was mingled with competitive elements.
She describes Robert as a gentler, more reasonable person than Willy. In another story that
says something about their relationship as well as their feelings toward Leon, Ottilie recalls
Willy bitterly criticizing their father: “Father always had to have his own way on the farm.”
Robert corrected the “always,” recalling a time when a foreman had sharply disagreed with
Leon. Robert had expected his father to punish the man severely for such independence but,
to his surprise, Leon replied quietly: “He has a point.” In later years, Reich was to value cer-
tain co-workers who possessed this capacity to see “both sides,” though he could tease the
same people as mercilessly as he must have teased Robert. Once, when a valued associate
bristled under such teasing, Reich caught himself up short and said: “I am always the older
brother,” implying he was aware of his bullying tendencies^7.
In the family legends, Willy was the more reckless and mischievous son whose mis-
deeds got him into trouble with his father. Once, Reich either rode a horse before it was bro-
ken in or prematurely put his younger brother on a horse. In any case, his father was furi-
ous and Robert tried to protect Willy from the paternal spanking.
So far, most of these anecdotes have painted the father in a negative, oppressive
light. However, judging from the extent that Reich identified with his father, he must have
loved as well as feared and hated him.I have already mentioned Reich’s pride in his father’s
progressive thinking on cultural and business matters. Reich also seems to have very much
taken after his father in his excellence at “running things.” Indeed, at Orgonon he took
pleasure in managing all kinds ofpractical matters from construction to the selling of tim-
ber.
IfLeon was oppressive, he was also busy, and Reich appears to have had many
opportunities for unsupervised play. He enjoyed farm life the animals, nature, and his peas-
ant nursemaids. In his later, somewhat idealized memories of his childhood, he referred with
a good deal ofpositive feeling to the Austrian country life hunting, fishing, riding, and all
kinds of interesting visitors to the family estate.
Socially, the long arm of their father was often felt. Reich was not allowed to play
with peasant children nor with Yiddish-speaking Jewish children. The father appears to have
been socially very ambitious,consorting with government officials and other high-level per-
sons, but Willy’s opportunities for playing with peers were scarce. The feudal quality of the