V O L U M E 8 , D O C U M E N T 3 0 8 a 4 5
such with a single word. Considering the psychological state of the perpetrator,
however, he the act it seems that one deals rather with a tragic accident than with
a crime.
Few would know Mr. Adler as well as I. We were
I know Mr. Adler him since we both studied theoretical physics 20 years ago
in Zurich. A few years ago he was still my closest colleague as lecturer in this field
at the University of Zurich; at that time we were also housemates. I have come to
know Adler in these years as a example man of honorable character, of an al-
most unique self-sacrifice.
I have Few are known to me who are as unconditionally reliable and honest as
he, who devote their energy as much for impersonal matters and with such an over-
coming of their own wishes.
So as not to inexcusably omit Under these circumstances I fulfill an imperative
duty if I now ask you with all my heart, Your Majesty, to make use of the right to
pardon, in case Adler is sentenced to death. A valuable life could thus be preserved.
Vol. 8, 308a. To Heinrich Zangger
[Berlin, before 10 March
1917][1]
Dear friend Zangger,
You are fretting too much on my behalf. One package arrived safely, the other
did
not.[2]
I will try to file a complaint at the post office. But nowadays the mail is
very unreliable. Much is being stolen and nothing is being refunded. Let’s hope
it still turns up. I will not fail to try everything. Boas seems not to have reported to
you
carefully.[3]
Perhaps you just received the medical statement from him but not
the personal report. He promised to send you one. I think that he is surely right
insofar as the sick liver is concerned. But I don’t believe it about the gallstones. I
don’t have cramplike attacks with sudden stabs of intolerable pain. Incidentally, the
pain has been plaguing me on and off since I was an adult. It evidently involves an
old complaint that is long-entrenched and got worse in the last few years (weight
loss, bad appearance). Since the diet, the pain is gone. It used to come like this: light
pressure in the liver region in the morning upon waking. Throughout the day,
gradual increase in pain, eventually to such a degree that I had to lie down. Rapidly
better after lying down in bed. My appearance is still bad but a little better since the
diet. Hands always cold. I am being very well cared for. My relatives are nursing
me excellently. My cousin cooks everything personally and—what is much more