The Freud Case. Documents of Injustice

extended until 5 April 2027

"The Freud Case. Documents of Injustice" sheds light on the last months of the Freud family in Nazi-era Vienna and recounts what happened in the years that followed. The systematic plundering of Sigmund Freud and his brother Alexander is traced in detail, and new findings deepen knowledge of the fate and murder of their four sisters Rosa, Maria, Adolfine and Pauline at the hands of the Nazi regime.

The Sigmund Freud Museum recently acquired previously unknown documents. They originate from the estate of the "commissioner administrator" appointed by the Nazis to the Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, which was owned by Sigmund and Anna Freud. These documents now form the central element of the exhibition. Together with hundreds of original files, business letters and lists from the asset manager of Alexander Freud and the four sisters, they shed light on the legal and financial processes behind the Nazi crimes. These records also expose a further perfidy: the founder of psychoanalysis was able to ship the entire furnishings of Berggasse 19, including his antiquities collection, to London, so that his emigration appeared privileged in the eyes of the international public. Behind the scenes, however, the Nazis plundered almost all of his financial assets by way of the Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, and his son Martin, the publisher's managing director, was subjected to massive pressure.

Alexander Freud owned the Allgemeiner Tarif-Anzeiger, was internationally recognised as a freight expert and had attained greater prosperity than his more famous brother. He could save his life and that of his wife only by surrendering all of his possessions. Penniless, they left Vienna, fled via Zurich to London and then on to Canada. Four of Freud's five sisters lived in Vienna in 1938, and no emigration could be arranged for them. They were evicted from their homes, housed in a "Sammelwohnung", robbed, deported and murdered in 1942.

We regularly offer special guided tours of the exhibition. Click here for our current tour programme!

The exhibition presents new research findings and addresses central questions of Freud research concerning the fate of the sisters, clearing up the myth that they were left behind. Previously unpublished documents and letters from family members between Vienna, London and New York show the arrangements made by the brothers and other relatives to secure the elderly women in Vienna, as well as their efforts, ultimately fruitless, to bring the sisters abroad. Messages from the sisters from Vienna, now held in the Library of Congress (Washington, D.C.), convey their increasingly dire living conditions against the backdrop of anti-Jewish measures. These personal records, as well as oral history interviews with Viennese women who cared for the elderly women, make palpable their fear, despair and recurring, disappointed hope. In 1942 the four women were deported from the Seegasse old people's home to Theresienstadt and subsequently murdered: Adolfine Freud died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp; Rosa Graf, Pauline Winternitz and Maria Freud were killed in the Treblinka extermination camp.

The catalogue for the exhibition is available in our online shop

The exhibition documents the fates of victims and the stories of perpetrators. It also casts light on how Nazi crimes were dealt with in post-war Austria, up to and including the founding history of the Sigmund Freud Museum.

The Freud Case. Documents of Injustice Special exhibition at the Sigmund Freud Museum 24 October 2025 - 9 November 2026 Extended until 5 April 2027!