I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 3 l i to keep science and relations between researchers free from any political in- fluences” (Doc. 198). Einstein’s concerns with the plight of “intellectual workers” in Germany extend- ed to support for the formation of a national German confederation, one that would be allowed to collaborate with the International Committee on Intellectual Cooper- ation of the League of Nations (Docs. 169 and 235). A detailed account by Einstein of the postwar conditions in Germany was published in the first issue of a new left- wing British journal, The New Leader. He confirmed the “almost universal” mal- nutrition among German “intellectual workers” and students and deplored the pol- icies of the Entente, which had undermined the prestige of the Weimar government “by repeated humiliations.” Germany’s financial obligations meant there was “no hope of working our way out of our present serfdom by legitimate means” (Doc. 347). Einstein nevertheless did support the proposed union of German and French in- dustries put forward by German industrialist Arnold Rechberg as a means to fulfill Germany’s reparation payments, and he urged Lord Haldane and Paul Painlevé to advocate this proposal to their respective governments (Docs. 334 and 335). VI The brutal murder of Germany’s foreign minister, Walther Rathenau, on 24 June 1922 by right-wing extremists constituted a landmark event in the fledgling Weimar Republic.[15] The assassination provoked outrage in most sectors of Ger- man public life, with the exception of the radical right. In its immediate aftermath, mass rallies and strikes were held, tensions ran high, and a possible civil war loomed. The day of Rathenau’s funeral was marked by large demonstrations in sup- port of the Republic. In a speech in the Reichstag, Prime Minister Josef Wirth at- tacked the conservative enemies of the Republic as being complicit in the murder. The government issued various decrees against right-wing associations, and, even- tually, legislation to protect the Republic was adopted.[16] The assassination also represented a watershed moment in Einstein’s life. Already painfully aware of the larger political implications, the assassination made him recognize that, as a prominent Jewish left-wing figure in German public life, he was in actual physical danger. In his letter of condolence to Rathenau’s mother, Einstein lauded his friend, who would be recorded in the annals of history “not just as a man of great understanding and ability to lead, but also as one of the great Jewish figures to offer up their lives to the ethical ideal of reconciliation among peoples. [...] I myself feel the separation