l x x v i i i I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 4 should primarily be a research institution. Worried about its planned administrative structure, he reiterated the significance of maximizing the researchers’ freedom in their work. He favored “a general Jewish board of governors” for the whole univer- sity and for the separate expert committees that would administer the individual in- stitutes. He also advocated for a substantial involvement of Diaspora intellectuals (Doc. 451). Einstein wrote an open letter to Weizmann on the occasion of the opening, envi- sioning it again in light of his humanistic ideals as “a refuge for the freedom of teaching and of tolerance. It should not be closed to any serious intellectual pursuit no person should be barred from entering it” (Doc. 450). He also published an of- ficial message. Citing the “nationalistic evil spirit and blind intolerance toward the foreign and the other” that was being directed against Jews at European universi- ties, he urged that the Hebrew University “remain free of this evil.” In his mind, “Jewish nationalism is currently a necessity […] but, hopefully, soon it will not be necessary to stress it specifically.” One of the “most noble tasks” of Jewish educa- tional institutions was “to keep our people free of national conceit and aggressive intolerance.” In addition, he stressed the special task of educating “the working classes of our people in Palestine” (Einstein 1925l [Doc. 470]). The day following the university’s opening, Weizmann informed Einstein of the inauguration of the Einstein Institute for Physics and Mathematics (Doc. 469). The opening of the He- brew University also solved the vexed issue of the fate of the original manuscript of Einstein 1916e (Vol. 6, Doc. 30). In Einstein’s absence, Elsa Einstein had ar- ranged for its donation to the Hebrew University (Doc. 477). At the beginning of his third week in Argentina, Einstein spent Easter break at the Wassermann’s country estancia at Llavallol, outside of Buenos Aires. He then traveled to Córdoba, where he attended a festive session at the university and de- livered a scientific lecture. He met briefly with the German pacifist and physiolo- gist Georg Nicolai, with whom he had cosigned the “Manifesto to the Europeans” in 1914.[60] Back in Buenos Aires, Einstein was “terribly tired of people.” And he had some more harsh words for the Argentinians: “General impression lacquered Indians, skeptical-cynical without love for culture, debauched on ox fat” (Doc. 455, entry of 14 April 1925). He was equally unimpressed with the local German colo- ny, which was “completely” ignoring him. In his mind, the Germans of Argentina were “more nationalistic and anti-Semitic than in Germany” (Doc. 474). During his fourth and final week in Buenos Aires, Einstein attended a meeting of the local Zionist executive, where he made a statement on nationalism and Zion- ism (Appendix I). At a special festive session of the National Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences, he was appointed a foreign member (Appendix J). Concerning a reception at the German Embassy, attended by prominent Argentin-
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