Details
EINSTEIN, Albert. Six autograph letters signed ('Albert', 'A' and 'A.E.') to Mileva Einstein-Maric, Princeton, Peconic Bay, and n.p., 17 April 1934 - 31 July 1938 and n.d., together 3 pages, 8vo, and 6 pages, 4to (horizontal excision to letter of 17.4.1934 with paste stains and markings in red pencil).
Bitter reflections on his treatment in Germany. In a long undated letter (1934), Einstein remarks scornfully that the Nazis 'have done themselves no good, because their treatment of me harmed them in the eyes of the world'. 'Du hast keine Vorstellung davon, was für eine Verbrecherbande dies ist' (you have no idea what a bunch of criminals they are). The same letter mourns the death of Einstein's close friend Fritz Haber (who had been a pioneer of chemical warfare in the First World War): 'How the swine in Berlin denigrated his achievements. During the war, of course, they made use of him'. A long letter of 20 July 1938 explains how Einstein came to adopt German citizenship: he was exclusively a Swiss citizen when he first moved to Berlin; only in 1919 did the Prussian Academy of Sciences press him to accept German citizenship as well. 'I was so stupid, I agreed. The consequence of this was that in 1933 they took away everything I owned in Germany'. He is disgusted with the failure of the Swiss government to react to his treatment, and urges Mileva and Eduard to take refuge in Yugoslavia, an idea he reiterates in a later letter. The letters also discuss the possibilities of insulin treatment for Eduard and reject the idea of brain surgery, and give news of Hans Albert's settling in America.
Einstein helped Hans Albert to emigrate with his family to the United States in 1937, where he found work initially in South Carolina as a hydraulics researcher. Perhaps fortunately, nothing came of Einstein's suggestions for Mileva and Eduard and they remained in Switzerland. (6)
Bitter reflections on his treatment in Germany. In a long undated letter (1934), Einstein remarks scornfully that the Nazis 'have done themselves no good, because their treatment of me harmed them in the eyes of the world'. 'Du hast keine Vorstellung davon, was für eine Verbrecherbande dies ist' (you have no idea what a bunch of criminals they are). The same letter mourns the death of Einstein's close friend Fritz Haber (who had been a pioneer of chemical warfare in the First World War): 'How the swine in Berlin denigrated his achievements. During the war, of course, they made use of him'. A long letter of 20 July 1938 explains how Einstein came to adopt German citizenship: he was exclusively a Swiss citizen when he first moved to Berlin; only in 1919 did the Prussian Academy of Sciences press him to accept German citizenship as well. 'I was so stupid, I agreed. The consequence of this was that in 1933 they took away everything I owned in Germany'. He is disgusted with the failure of the Swiss government to react to his treatment, and urges Mileva and Eduard to take refuge in Yugoslavia, an idea he reiterates in a later letter. The letters also discuss the possibilities of insulin treatment for Eduard and reject the idea of brain surgery, and give news of Hans Albert's settling in America.
Einstein helped Hans Albert to emigrate with his family to the United States in 1937, where he found work initially in South Carolina as a hydraulics researcher. Perhaps fortunately, nothing came of Einstein's suggestions for Mileva and Eduard and they remained in Switzerland. (6)
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