D O C U M E N T 1 0 4 A U G U S T 1 9 2 0 2 3 5
3.) “Passport visa”—Enclosed letter by Prof. van Vollenhoven shows you that
shortly before August 12 the Minister did apply to the General Consul in Berlin to
give you a visa for 6 months (valid for as many trips as you like through any border
posts).–
[6]
Please inquire at the Consulate by letter, with this letter by van Vollenhoven in
enclosure, whether this “application” (!!—yes, not “instruction”!!!) by the Minister
for Foreign Affairs has already arrived.—And please let me know the response im-
mediately, so that I can pass it on to van Vollenhoven.
— • —
Don’t get impatient with me—think of it, that I hop about among all you impos-
ing creatures, harmlessly and helplessly, like a frog anxiously trying not to get
squashed.
I neglected to do one thing: On July 16 a book arrived for you from Marie-Anne
Cochet: LÊintuition et lÊamour (Essai sur les rapports métaphys. de lÊintuition et de
lÊinstinct avec lÊintellig. et la
vie)[7]
—sender’s address: Villa Fayet, Begunns sur
Gland, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. [The packing paper smells of perfume—the
book itself, though, is 263 pages
long.][8]
Dedication (handwritten): “To the illus-
trious Profess. Einstein, a tribute by a metaphysicist Frenchwoman”—To be for-
warded to you or held here?!!
Furthermore: The students from the Philos. Faculty at Utrecht invite you to give
a speech—I would advise you to be cautious, for acceptance means: ditto in Am-
sterdam, Groningen, Delft, Wageningen, etc.—“Automatic settlement”?!–
— • —
Do you happen to know where
Smekal[9]
is now? I would like to write him.
— • —
This too: Van Vollenhoven informed you that the remuneration is always paid
out on January
1,[10]
but he told me that if, in the interval between talk and January
1, you should need part of the total, that you simply have to say so—then he will
make the arrangements.
— • —
— • —
It does seem quite incredible that elementary magnets should be so freely rotat-
able in paramagnetic crystals.—Well, I am looking forward to being able to discuss
that with you.–
[11]
What I would give to accompany you to Copenhagen!!– I now have news of my
physics friends in Petrograd and Moscow—everyone alive and more or less
scientifically active or teaching. It is now a matter of providing them with offprints
and
books.[12]
Best regards to all of you.—Don’t forget us completely in your sentiments,
yours,
Ehrenfest.