#6 Newspapers, July 4, 1919
Articles about Tausk's Suicide
The suicide of Dr Tausk.
The suicide of Dr. Tausk. Version 1
The death of Dr. Tausk wasn't a big news; after all people do kill themselves on a daily basis. But it should have been. Not because Tausk was a prominent member of the society but because of the strange, and suspicious, circumstances of his death. This is how it was reported in the local Viennese newspaper the day after Tausk's death.
Der Neue Tag, July 4, 1919
In yesterday's evening paper, we reported on the suicide of our local doctor, Dr. Viktor Tausk. Even though the immediate cause of the crime is not known, In yesterday's evening paper we reported on the suicide of our local doctor, Dr. Viktor Tausk. Even though the immediate cause of the deed is not known, the details of his past provide an interesting insight into the sad fate of a war combatant.
Dr. Tausk was a very busy neurologist before the war. His domestic happiness was indeed damaged because he was separated from his wife and children, but he sought satisfaction in his profession. At the end of last year, Dr. Tausk returned to Vienna after a 40-month absence due to military service. His nerves were frayed due to the strain of the war. Those around him could see that he suffered greatly in the war.
Dr. Tausk had been engaged to a local young piano virtuoso for some time and was planning to enter into his second marriage with her next week.
The day before yesterday, one of his sons, who lives with his mother and a brother in Graz, visited him.
In the evening, Doctor Tausk went to a concert with his bride and went home at half past two o'clock in the morning. Afterwards, he wrote farewell letters, and a will, and likely soon after that committed suicide.
Not even the servant who was sleeping next door heard the shot, because, on the one hand, there were soundproof doors and, on the other hand, according to the court doctor, Doctor Tausk held the gun directly to his temple ,and the explosion was greatly weakened.
When the servant entered the still-lit room in the morning, she found her master dead (hanged) at (on) the window cross [Fensterkreuz]. In the early hours of the morning, the doctor's bride arrived to accompany him to the district office to arrange for the wedding banns, and then found out about the terrible incident.
The cross window where Tausk was found dead.
The cross window
As it was reported, Tausk committed suicide. Could it have been a staged suicide? Tausk's actions are not of a man who wants to take his life, On the contrary. These are the actions of a man who believes he had found a woman he is going to share his life with.
And his actions centred around his bride and the coming wedding:
He planned to marry his bride next week.
He arranged to meet her the next morning to go with her to arrange the wedding banns.
She came to see him, not expecting any trouble.
Apparently, neither she nor anyone else, had any idea that Tausk would take his own life. So, maybe, he didn't.
The timing.
Tausk came home at half past two o'clock in the morning. Apparently, he was alone.
The servant entered Tausk' room in the morning and found him dead.
It was a Thursday, July 4, 1919, and the sunrise was at 3:58am.
The room was still lit when the servant entered. As a matter of course, Tausk would not keep the light on, when the sun was shining. And, since the light wasn't switched off, it means that at the sunrise, Tausk was no longer alive.
Thus, no doubt, Tausk died between 2.30 and 3.58 am, which is a short period of no more than one and a half hours!
Two suicide letters
Remarkably, in this short time, according to Roazen ,Tausk allegedly wrote two suicide letters, a will, and a detailed list of all his belongings. This doesn't seem possible.
On the other hand, the murderer, assuming Tausk was murdered, could have written in advance the letters, as well as the will, and brought them with him. And ausk may have written the list of his belongings as a preparation for a nuptial agreement.
The bottle of vodka (Slivovitz) on the table (1)
Allegedly, as Roazen claimed, Tausk drank Silvovitz vodka before deciding to take his own life. The claim is to say the least dubiour. It is not believable that Tausk, coming home at that early morning hour, would start drinking, rather than going to bed. After all he knew, he had to get up early in the morning since his bride was coming to meet him.
An alternative explanation
Tausk had a visitor who may have brought the bottle of vodka with him, or Tausk opened a bottle to drink with the visitor.
The visitor must have been waiting outside for Tausk to come home.
He may have approached Tausk on the outside, or knocked on his door.
What kind of visitor would Tausk let in at this early morning hour? Someone with whom he was not only acquainted with but also in some was associated with. Freud was this kind of person.
What happened next? Somehow, Tausk was neutralised, unable to offer resistance. If it was the visitor that brought the vodka, it may have been spiked with some kind of tranquilliser; or Tausk could have been injected with some paralysing drug.
Tausk was a bigger, and at his age of 40, presumably, a much stronger man than Freud, thus, unless he was incapacitated, he wouldn't be easy to overpower. But once it was done, it would have been an easy thing to shoot him in the head, and hang him or vice versa.
The servant sleeping next door not hearing the shot
The claim, that the servant didn't hear the shot because there were soundproof doors and that Tausk held the gun to his temple, is not believable.
A shot from a pistol would have been heard without a doubt in the next room, since it would easily travel through the walls.
One possible explanation is that that night the servant wasn't sleeping in her bed. Or maybe the servant was paid off to be away, or maybe she let the visitor in, and kept quiet about what she did, and heard.
The cross window and the window cross
As it was reported, the servant found her master dead (hanged) at (on) the cross of the cross window. This is a very unusual way of committing a suicide.
Cross window is a rectangular window divided in four parts by a vertical and horizontal bar forming a cross. And, since Tausk was found hanging on the window cross, the two upper windows must have been opened to thread the rope around the vertical bar.
What is surprising is the fact that the cross would have kept up the weight of a man, approximately 75 kg of weight. Things would be different if he was hanged rather than hanging himself. There is also a question how high the window cross was that allowed a man of this height to hang himself. (According to Tausk's son: Physically, he was not exceedingly tall, as has been said. I remember him saying that his height was 1.74 meter.) (2)
Christian symbolism
Moreover, there's the question of symbolism, and Freud was the master of symbols. The cross is a Catholic symbol, and Tausk had converted to Catholicism when marrying his gentile, first wife, Martha. (This is how Tausk explained his reason for the conversion: As my fiancée was a Christian and did not want to be converted to Judaism, I myself had to change from Jewish creed to Christianity in order to be able to marry her.) (3)
What also comes to mind is the image of God's son, Jesus, on the cross. Assuming it was Freud that killed him, it is not unreasonable to view Tausk's death on the "cross" as the "son's" punishment for his revolt against Freud, the "father".
(N.B. Nowadays, the house at Alser Strasse 32, where the Tausk allegedly died, had been turned into Hotel-Pension Astra. The windows are no longer cross windows. However, the house number 30, has cross windows as pictured. Possibly, this was the house in which Tausk had died.)
(1) Roazen, (1969, p. 125).
(2) Tausk, Marius. Marius Tausk: Victor Tausk as Seen by His Son, American Imago, vol. 30, no. 4, 1973, pp. 323–35., p. 323.
(3) Tausk, Marius, (1973, p. 325).
The suicide of Dr. Tausk. Version 2
Also, another newspaper recounted the story of Tausk's suicide. Remarkably, this is a different story.
Die Zeit, July 4, 1919
Suicide of a doctor
The well-known general practitioner, Dr. Victor Tausk, committed suicide yesterday morning in his apartment at Alserstrasse No. 32. He tied a noose to a nail in his room, put his head in the noose, and then shot an bullet into his right temple with a Browning pistol. The body fell and pulled the noose, so that Dr. Tausk also suffered a deep wound. When he was found and cut off, he was a dead. The cause of the deed is unknown.
One of the deceased's friends sent us the following tribute:
Dr. Viktor Tausk was one of the most talented doctors of the psychoanalytic school in Vienna. His tireless research drive was recognised by his friends as well as his opponents. He was originally a lawyer and had high expectations as a judge in Bosnia. Already in his mature years, influenced by the teachings of psychoanalysis, he had decided to change his profession, studied medicine, and established himself as a neurologist before the war. With strong philosophical inclinations, he combined a keen power of observation with a particularly pronounced precision and forcefulness of expression. These qualities were particularly evident in the courses, in which he introduced numerous listeners of both sexes to the new and different teachings of psychoanalysis.
All of these listeners had to admire the pedagogical skill and clarity of his lectures, as well as the depth with which he dealt with his problems. His patients will keep a lasting memory of the doctor who devoted himself to them fully and with joy in his profession. But we, who were closer to him, remember how much science lost when he threw away this life that had become uncertain.
This article presented a different version of the events. Rather than being hanged on the cross window, Tausk supposedly attached a rope to a nail, which is odd. There are no nails in an average room suitable for attaching a rope. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that Tausk would have access to a big nail and a hammer in the middle of the night. And, a nail still wouldn't hold a weight of a man, rather it would've been pulled out from the wall or the ceiling. The whole idea that Tausk hanged himself on a rope attached to a nail is even more bizarre than the alleged fact that he had hanged himself on a cross window.
Notably, Tausk's death was commented upon, allegedly by one of Tausk's friends.
Who could that friend have been, taking into account that most of his comment is a promotion of Freud's own "science" of psychoanalysis? Could the author of the well-informed comment, just as in the Nathan Weiss' case, be the psychoanalytical guru, Sigmund Freud?
There's more than a chance that the whole article was written by Freud, just as in the Nathan Weiss case. A brilliant idea. First you kill someone, then write an article about the deed, and get paid for it. Without doubt, Freud was goading the police, and he had a total success dying in his own bed rather than being hanged in his younger years.
Assuming the article was written by Freud, his motivation to publish misleading information about Tausk having hanged himself on a nail is easily understandable. Due to his paranoia, he would have been unwilling to let the readers know that the "suicide" was staged.
Below follows the comparison of the comments by the anonymous "friend" with the obituary of Tausk by Freud. There's an uncanny similarity between them. Both the article, and the obituary, were published anonymously.
Die Zeit, July 4, 1919
Dr. Viktor Tausk was one of the most talented doctors of the psychoanalytic school.
He was originally a lawyer and had high expectations as a judge in Bosnia.
Already in his mature years, influenced by the teachings of psychoanalysis, he had decided to change his profession, studied medicine,
With strong philosophical inclinations, he combined a keen power of observation with a particularly pronounced precision and forcefulness of expression.
These qualities were particularly evident in the courses, in which he introduced numerous listeners of both sexes to the new and different teachings of psychoanalysis. All of these listeners had to admire the pedagogical skill and clarity of his lectures, as well as the depth with which he dealt with his problems.
Tausk's obituary by Freud
Dr. Victor Tausk was a rarely-gifted man [of] the ranks of psycho-analysis
Originally a lawyer by profession, he had for some considerable time been acting as a magistrate in Bosnia ...
... he became acquainted with psycho-analysis and soon decided to devote himself to it entirely. Although he was no longer a young man ... he embarked on the ... study of medicine only as a means ...to carry on a psycho-analytic practice.
... his numerous contributions ... distinguished by sharp observation, sound judgement and a particular clearness of expression. ... exhibit plainly the philosophical training which the author was able ... to combine with the exact methods of science. .
Psycho-analysis was particularly indebted to Dr. Tausk, who was a brilliant speaker, for the courses of lectures which he gave over a period of many years to large audiences of both sexes and in which he introduced them to the principles and problems of psycho-analysis. His audiences were able to admire the clarity and didactic skill of his lectures no less than the profundity with which he handled individual topics. *
SE 17, pp. 273-275.
Comparison with the original publications in German
Die Zeit, July 4, 1919
... starken philosophischen Neigungen ... [Tausk showed] ... strong philosophical leanings
... in den Kursen,... er zahlreiche Zuhörer beiden Geschlechtes in die neue und befremdliche Lehre der Psychoanalyse einführte ...
... in the courses ... he introduced numerous listeners of both sexes to the new and unfamiliar doctrine of psychoanalysis.
Alle diese Zuhörer mussten die pädagogische Geschicklichkeit und die Klarheit seiner Vorträge ebenso zu bewundern wie die Tiefe, mit der er einzelne Probleme behandelte.
All of these listeners had to admire the pedagogical skill and clarity of his lectures as well as the depth with which he dealt with his problems.
Tausk's obituary by Freud
... philosophischen Begabung und Neigung ...
[Tausk showed] ... philosophical talent and leaning ...
... Vortragskursen ...er ... zahlreiche Zuhörer beiderlei Geschlechtes in die Grundlagen und Probleme der Psychoanalyse einführte.
[In the] ... lecture courses he [Tausk] introduced numerous listeners of both sexes to the basics and problems of psychoanalysis.
Seine Zuhörer wußten die pädagogische Geschicklichkeit und Klarheit seiner Vorträge ebenso zu bewundern wie die Tiefe, mit der er einzelne Themata behandelte.
His listeners knew how to admire the pedagogical skill and clarity of his lectures as well as the depth with which he dealt with individual topics
Even if we disregard from other passages, already the last quote from the article - mirroring Freud's obituary of Tausk - reveals Freud as the author of the article published in the Die Zeit (The Time) newspaper the day after Tausk's death. And, there's an interesting question. Why would Freud write the article anonymously? Killing two birds with one stone? Besides getting rid of Tausk, also getting paid for the article? Money for Freud was laughing gas.