4 7 0 D O C . 6 5 M I S E R Y O F C H I L D R E N
65. On the Misery of Children
Berlin, Haberlandstr. 5 Den 7. X. 21.
Das Kinder-Elend in den Städten Deutschlands ist immer noch ein schreckli-
ches, so dass ein erheblicher Teil der künftigen Generation unter Bedingungen
aufwächst, die zu dauernder Schädigung
führen.[1]
Würde es sich um einen Dauer-
Zustand handeln, so müsste fremde Hilfe gegenüber solchen Massen-Elend
erlahmen. Aber ein grosser Teil der Armut kommt aus den unstabilen Wirtschafts-
verhältnissen, die ihrerseits aus dem beständigen Sinken des Geldwertes
entspringen.[2]
Ich zweifle nicht daran, daß dies arbeitssame Volk jene Folge-
Erscheinungen des Krieges überwinden und wieder stabile wirtschaftliche Verhält-
nisse erreichen wird, und ich kann mir deshalb kaum ein schöneres und zugleich
dankbareres Werk der Nächstenliebe denken als in dieser harten Uebergangszeit
diejenigen vor frühzeitigem Siechtum zu
retten[3]
und der arbeitenden Menschheit
zuzuführen, die für den Gang der Weltgeschichte in diesen bösen Jahren am wenig-
sten verantwortlich gemacht werden können.
TD. [43 440]. The document consists of one unnumbered page. A draft in Ilse Einstein’s hand
[43 439] is on the verso of the soliciting letter [43 438].
[1]This declaration, solicited as a “testimonial” (“Zeugnis”) by an American relief organization, the
Central Committee for the Relief of Distress in Germany and Austria, expresses publicly what Ein-
stein had conveyed to friends privately in spring 1920: shock at the extent of urban want and child
mortality (see Doc. 40, note 3). Composed of Americans of German extraction, the Committee
intended to publish Einstein’s declaration in German-American newspapers, certain that “such a con-
tribution from you will considerably further our fundraising effort” (“ein solcher Beitrag von Ihnen
unsere Sammelarbeit ganz erheblich foerdern wird.” Central Committee to Einstein, 9 September
1921). One of the Committee’s Vice-Presidents was Hugo Lieber, who was also active in initiatives
on behalf of German academic institutions (see Einstein 1920b [Doc. 36], note 2). The chairman of
its Executive Committee, Rudolf Pagenstecher, and his daughter had the year before contributed
200,000 marks toward new German research (see Erwin Freundlich to Einstein, 14 December 1920).
See Einstein’s “Calculations on Star Clusters” (Appendix A), [p. 581], in which the name “Pagen-
stecher” is appended.
[2]More measured before, the rate of inflation began its uncontrollable rise in the last months of
1921 (see Feldman 1993, chap. 9). From June to November of that year, the mark lost about three-
quarters of its value, falling from 70 to almost 270 marks against the dollar (see Feldman 1993, p. 5).
The partition of Upper Silesia, ordered by the League of Nations in October 1921, further exacerbated
the situation.
[3]Fifteen months earlier, Einstein had called the German public’s attention to the contributions
made to international reconciliation by the American and English Quakers in the first phase of their
child-feeding mission in Germany (see Doc. 40). In this document he lent his hand to a major fund-
raising drive initiated by the Central Committee, which met in early April 1921 to plan with the Quak-
ers for the second phase of the latter’s humanitarian mission (see Wilbur K. Thomas to Edgar Rickard,
7 April 1921, PPAF, Foreign Service 1921–Germany, Committees & Organizations: ARA.
Correspondence, N.Y. and Phila.). The goal was to raise three million dollars to feed 500,000 children
daily (see Central Committee to Einstein, 9 September 1921; see also Jones 1937, p. 82; and Kreyen-
poth 1932, p. 83). The American drive began on 6 October 1921 (see Korrespondenzblatt des
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