D O C U M E N T S 1 1 1 , 1 1 3 M A R C H 1 9 2 1 8 9
111. To Emmanuel Carvallo[1]
[Berlin,] 21 March 1921
Dear Colleague,
Only today do I manage to answer your exceedingly amicable letter. I really
regard it as one of my most sacred duties to do all things capable of improving rela-
tions between scholars [again]. It certainly is not easy for someone living in the
land of the vanquished. If one is hesitant, the others find it unkind; if one is forward,
it is interpreted by one’s fellow countrymen as
disloyalty.[2]
Today it looks worse
than ever because the events of the day are interpreted regarded on both sides as
proof of the indispensability and essentialness of imperialism and [?]
force.[3]
When will Europe realize that it will fall if its political organization trails behind
the conditions afforded by the developments in technology? It is particularly omi-
nous that personal contacts between the inhabitants of the formerly hostile coun-
tries have almost completely ceased; thus the prejudices magnify into the
grotesque. Even the truism has been forgotten that the character and merit of indi-
vidual personalities is independent of the border posts erected in between their res-
idences.
You, however, have shown by your letter that you are among the valuable per-
sons for whom the ideal of international culture still means something. Friendly
greetings from your
A. Einstein.
112. From Arthur T. Hadley
[New Haven,] 21 March 1921
[See the documentary edition for the original English.]
113. To Paul Ehrenfest
[On board the T.S.S. Rotterdam, 24 March 1921]
Dear Ehrenfest,
It is nice to be in Idler’s Paradise, where there are no duties besides eating at the
right table. But today Zion appears with troubles and
worries.[1]
Away we now go
onto the Great Water. See you again in
Leyden.[2]
Warm greetings to all of you, yours,
Einstein.