Children playing in prewar Vienna

Identifier
irn1004245
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2009.62
  • RG-60.4747
Dates
1 Jan 1933 - 31 Dec 1938
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Silent
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Dr. Max Schur, born in Ukraine and living in Vienna from 1914, was a psychoanalyst and Freud's personal physician. His wife, Helen (Kraus) Schur, born in Prague, was also a doctor. They married at the Seitenstettengasse synagogue in Vienna in 1930 and had two children, Peter (b.1933) and Eva (b.1935). The Schur family lived in Vienna until June 10, 1938, when they left for London with visas obtained by Marie Bonaparte, who was born in France, married to Danish and Greek royalty, and a psychoanalyst and colleague of Freud. Ernest Jones, a British psychoanalyst, was equally important in obtaining the visas, and also obtained permission for Dr. Schur to treat Freud in England.The Schurs left for New York in April 1939. After a brief stay during the spring of 1939, the family returned to London so that Dr. Schur could care for Freud, who was in the final stage of oral cancer. Years previously Freud had told Dr. Schur that he didn't want to suffer at the end of his life. On September 1939 Dr. Schur administered a dose of morphine that caused Freud to lapse into a coma and eventually die. The Schur family moved back to New York in October 1939. Details taken from correspondence with Eva (Schur) Milofsky in February 2014 and Peter Schur's essay "The Freud-Schur Connection" delivered to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association in February 1994.

Dr. Max Schur, born in Ukraine and living in Vienna from 1914, was a psychoanalyst and Freud's personal physician. His wife, Helen (Kraus) Schur, born in Prague, was also a doctor. They married at the Seitenstettengasse synagogue in Vienna in 1930 and had two children, Peter (b.1933) and Eva (b.1935). The Schur family lived in Vienna until June 10, 1938, when they left for London with visas obtained by Marie Bonaparte, who was born in France, married to Danish and Greek royalty, and a psychoanalyst and colleague of Freud. Ernest Jones, a British psychoanalyst, was equally important in obtaining the visas, and also obtained permission for Dr. Schur to treat Freud in England.The Schurs left for New York in April 1939. After a brief stay during the spring of 1939, the family returned to London so that Dr. Schur could care for Freud, who was in the final stage of oral cancer. Years previously Freud had told Dr. Schur that he didn't want to suffer at the end of his life. On September 1939 Dr. Schur administered a dose of morphine that caused Freud to lapse into a coma and eventually die. The Schur family moved back to New York in October 1939. Details taken from correspondence with Eva (Schur) Milofsky in February 2014 and Peter Schur's essay "The Freud-Schur Connection" delivered to the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association in February 1994.

Doris Lichtenthal, her mother Rose Spiegel Lichtenthal, and her grandmother Sophie Weiss Spiegel left Vienna for America in mid-1938 shortly after her father, Paul Lichtenthal, was imprisoned at Dachau. She was best friends with Lucy, with whom she appears in the Schur family film footage.

Scope and Content

Possibly a kindergarten scene. Four little girls, posing for the camera, then running about happily. An infant is being placed into its carriage, CUs. Another baby. A few mothers with carriages gathered on a sidewalk, including Doris Lichtenthal. Children play. They begin raking sand or dirt of some kind. 01:01:08 Kids play, boys in lederhosen with hoops and sticks, girls with jump ropes. The boys try to climb the fence before giving up. Peter rides a scooter that is just a bit big for him. Peter plays with blocks (brief). A child writing, followed by a girl running behind a toy baby carriage. 01:02:41 Children playing in what appears to be a schoolyard. A teacher is present as they run about the yard and play in a sandbox. Young boys chase after slightly older girls. 01:03:23 Peter in a striped bathrobe plays indoors with wooden construction blocks. The picture is dark. He continues to play with an electric model train locomotive on an oval track.

Note(s)

  • Doris Lichtenthal, her mother Rose Spiegel Lichtenthal, and her best friend Lucy appear in this family film. 01:00:02 Lucy (with white scarf) stands beside Doris. 01:00:41 Rose with her daughter Doris and other mothers and children.

Subjects

Places

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.