2 8 4 D O C U M E N T 1 6 7 O C T O B E R 1 9 2 0
I have also discussed with Father the legal consequences of your
retraction,[14]
since Max just informed me by telephone that Moszk. wrote: “he has already
signed his rights over to the
publisher.”[15]
(That sly dodger!) So now the situation
is that the publisher will demand a compensation amount and that it could come to
legal proceedings. It is possible, says Father, that the judge will then either consider
a rel. low sum (for the already incurred costs, printing, paper, etc.), or, on the other
hand, that he also—in case printing hasn’t started yet—won’t demand any damages
for the publisher, since your retraction came in consequence of the new situation
resulting from the smear campaign. That is what you must be prepared for with
your withdrawal.
But whatever happens: You must (Father thinks so too) now simply retract
permission.
Even if the book should nevertheless appear, because one is powerless against
such crafty types, then you or your friends can present the situation in the papers
and, depending on the circumstances, energetically attack Moszk. You then are in
a different moral position. We all accomplish nothing with Moszk.; with us he con-
descendingly invokes his friendship with you. We too find ourselves now in a dis-
tasteful position toward that fellow that can change only if you coldly, without
much fanfare, withdraw your permission and henceforth do not grant anymore dis-
cussion, any more contact. He shouldn’t be allowed to exploit your “friendship.”–
Please do not show this letter to your wife; her nerves do seem to be very shaken
as a result of the Weyland-Lenardiana affair, and her so direly needed recovery re-
ally should not be upset by such
troubles.[16]
167. From Fritz Haber
Dahlem, Berlin, 4–6 Faraday Way, 7 October 1920
Dear friend Einstein,
In the attached you will find a large amount of printed paper, and I would like it
very much if you could look favorably upon it. It involves a matter that you, based
on your way of thinking, ought to have originated yourself, had it not already ex-
isted. You surely share my opinion that it is a cheerless state of affairs when, with
all these wage disputes, hospitals can no longer be heated because they cannot ob-
tain any coal, children no longer get milk, and water and gas are lacking and there-
fore no more meals can be cooked, and more of the
like.[1]
I believe it is the binding
duty and obligation of all decent people to make sure that vital services continue to
operate while managers and workers are otherwise engaged in screaming bloody
murder at one
another.[2]
The institution existing in Germany that achieves and se-
cures this maintenance of vital services is the Emergency Technical Aid