l i i I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 3 from him as an irreplaceable loss” (Doc. 245). In a published memorial statement, he wrote that it “is easy to be an idealist when one is living in Cloud-Cuckoo-Land but [Rathenau] was an idealist even though he was living on Earth and knew its odor as others rarely do.” But he was also candid in his criticism of Rathenau: “I regretted that he became a minister. Given the attitude of a large majority of the ed- ucated class in Germany toward the Jews, it is my conviction that proud reserve by Jews in public life would be the natural thing. Still, I would not have thought that hate, delusion, and ingratitude would go so far” (Doc. 317). Einstein was asked if memorial services for Rathenau should be held at the University of Berlin. He told the rector, Walther Nernst, that he was, in principle, opposed to such services. Uni- versities should not be “meddling [...] in political affairs.” However, in this case, in which “it is a matter of strengthening moral attitudes in general [... t]he university should, in my opinion, take a clear stance in the sense that it definitely condemns politically motivated murder” (Doc. 258). Einstein’s first wife, Mileva Einstein-Maric, was “horrified” about the news that Einstein was “among those people whom certain elements—I don’t know which— are plotting against” (Doc. 248). Berlin journalist Friedrich Sternthal pleaded with Einstein to consider taking precautionary measures for his personal safety, warning of the “unbridled hatred” against him in “German-völkisch and similar circles” (Doc. 253). Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe, by now a close collaborator and friend, invited Einstein for an extended stay in Kiel. While the invitation was not directly tied to the assassination, its timing was most likely not coincidental (Doc. 250). Einstein agreed to arrive with his wife a week later, writing: “Rathenau’s assassi- nation deeply shocked me and generally caused a great stir. It is unfortunately doubtful whether the Reich government will succeed in gaining mastery over all re- sisting elements. The army seems to be particularly unreliable. The old traditions of contempt for morality—fabricated for purposes of foreign policy—are now tak- ing their toll inside the country.” In his mind, the issues were not restricted to Ber- lin. He deplored the ongoing imprisonment of the prominent dramatist Ernst Toller in a Bavarian jail, and lamented: “Oh, nation of poets and thinkers, what has be- come of you!” (Doc. 257). The assassination now rekindled Einstein’s earlier desire to leave Berlin.[17] On 11 July, he informed Marie Curie-Sk odowska that he would be resigning from the Prussian Academy of Sciences and from the directorship of the Kaiser Wilhelm In- stitute of Physics, thus removing himself from “clamorous Berlin in order to be able to work in peace again” (Doc. 275). A day later, he informed Max von Laue that “officially” he was already away from Berlin, though he was physically still there (Doc. 278). He was now contemplating working for Anschütz-Kaempfe and purchasing a villa in Kiel, though not the one he had initially admired for its wild