2 4 D O C . 1 9 R E S I G N A T I O N F R O M I C I C
19. “On My Resignation from the Committee on
Intellectual Cooperation of the League of Nations”
[Einstein 1923p]
Dated after 23 April 1923
Published June 1923
In: Die Friedens-Warte 23 (1923): 186.
Upon my return from Japan I declared, with a heavy heart, my withdrawal from
the League of Nations Committee on Intellectual
Cooperation.[1]
I did so because
the activities of the League of Nations up to then had convinced me that the League
of Nations would not take a stance against any action, no matter how brutal, that
the currently powerful group of states has
taken.[2]
I did so because the League of
Nations, as it manages its office today, not only does not embody the ideal of an
international organization, but downright discredits it. I did so with inner misgiv-
ings, though, because all my hope that perhaps a better substance could gradually
grow inside this shell had not yet been extinguished. In any event, the thought con-
soles me that one of the purest and most exceptional men that contemporary sci-
ence has at its disposal was elected to this committee in my place, a man who can
exert an exceedingly healing influence through his rectitude and fairness that is ac-
knowledged by all. By selecting him (he is Prof. H. A.
Lorentz[3]
in Haarlem), the
committee has in a certain sense refuted my harsh words, which nobody can be
happier about than I myself. May the League of Nations also prove my words
wrong in the future in more deeply probing issues!