The saga of psychoanalysis in Eastern Europe: repression and rebirth in Hungary, and in former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

Abstract

The paper shortly presents the early roles of Budapest, Prague, and Belgrade in the development of psychoanalytic movement in Central-Europe before the Second World War. Mapping this historical heritage, it suggests how psychoanalysts of former Soviet Bloc countries could restore their own psychoanalytic communities. The study investigates the consequences of these dictatorial and authoritarian regimes for psychoanalysis and for psychoanalysts focusing on similarities and differences in Hungary, in former Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. Furthermore, it emphasizes the contribution of the international professional organizations - the International Psychoanalytic Association, and the European Psychoanalytic Federation - for reintegration of Budapest, Prague, and Belgrade to the international psychoanalytic community.