D O C U M E N T 3 5 8 A U G U S T 1 9 2 6 5 6 9 Published in Vossische Zeitung, 26 August 1926, EE, p. [2]. An English version was published in the New York Times, 29 August 1926, p. 1. [1]There are two versions of the genesis of this manifesto. According to one version, it was issued by the Union of Anti-militarist Clergyman, which had been founded in Switzerland in 1925. Accord- ing to the second version, it was issued by an ad hoc committee upon the suggestion of the Czech- Jewish pacifist Hans Kohn, a member of War Resisters’ International (WRI). The version of the man- ifesto published in the New York Times included a request for further signatures to be sent to Herbert Runham Brown, the honorary secretary general of WRI and a Congregationalist conscientious objec- tor. Allegedly, the manifesto “was published in every country in the world except in those countries where the free press is entirely suppressed, and in even these lands it was circulated to a considerable extent” (see Prasad 2005, pp. 107–108, and Barrett, C. 2014, pp. 192 and 221). [2]At the time the manifesto was issued, the Military Commission of Preparatory Disarmament Conference of the League of Nations was convening in Geneva. Three days earlier, the sixth Interna- tional Democratic Peace Conference had ended in Bierville, France. Efforts by the campaign against conscription after World War I were carried out on two parallel tracks: acts against conscription by individual conscientious objectors and collective actions such as this manifesto. Prior to the manifesto, 40,000 people had signed a petition demanding alternatives to military service (see New York Times, 20 August 1926 Vossische Zeitung, 23 August 1926, EE Prasad 2005, p. 107 and Barrett, C. 2014, p. 221). [3]Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924). A provision for the abolition of conscription was actually con- tained in the second draft of Wilson’s Covenant of the League of Nations (see Ambrosius 1987, p. 62). [4]Among the more prominent signatories were Henri Barbusse, Martin Buber, M. K. Gandhi, Count Harry Kessler, Paul Löbe, Romain Rolland, Bertrand Russell, Rabindranath Tagore, Fritz von Unruh, and H. G. Wells. 358. From Paul Ehrenfest Leiden 26 August 1926. Lieber Einstein! Vielen Dank für Deine Karte vom 23 August.[1] Ich wollte Dir schon lange schreiben, schämte mich aber Dich zu belästigen. Es freut mich sehr, dass Du Dich für Kleins Arbeit zu interessieren beginnst[2] Schade nur, dass Du im Juni nicht herkommen konntest, als er hier war.— Ich glaube, dass seine Ideen, so skizzenhaft und bedenklich sie auch noch im Augen- blick sein mögen über Schrödinger hinaus zu etwas besserem führen werden. Be- sonders wenn es Gelingt von den linearen Gleichungen zu nichtlinearen vorzudrin- gen.— Leider habe ich von seiner Arbeit kein Separat. Aber ich habe ihm sofort geschrieben er möge Dir senden, was er hat. Seine Adresse ist momentan: Däne- mark Gilleleje c/o Sadelmager Lassen. Ich hoffe dass Du drei Tage nach Empfang dieses meines Briefes schon von ihm Antwort hab[en] wirst.— Ich möchte Dir noch eimal sagen, dass er einer der allerfeinsten und liebenswürdigsten Leute ist, denen ich jemals begegnet bin und auch meine Frau urtheilt so.
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