8
DOCS.
FOR
VOL.
5
JANUARY
1914
Vol.
5,
500a. To
Jakob
Ehrat
[Zurich,
7 January
1914]
Dear
Ehrat,[1]
I
telephoned you yesterday
for
the
following
reason.
An old
acquaintance,
Mr.
Besso’s
sister-in-law,
a
very pleasant, good person
of
our
age,
visited
me.[2]
She
is
a
widow[3]
[She
was
married to
a
cantonal schoolteacher in
Aarau.]
and
had
a
position
here in
a shop,
but it
was
too strenuous for her.
Originally
she lived
with
the
boys
in
Oberwil[4]
but
came
here
to
allow her
boys
to
get
a
proper schooling.
Now she
intends
to start
a
small
boardinghouse
to
earn a
little
bit.[5]
Mr.
Besso
is
providing
for
the
boys’
upkeep.
Then
it occurred to
me
that it
would be
quite
smart if
she went
to
Winterthur,
provided you
wanted to live
with
her,
at least to start with.
I
am
convinced
that
you
also would
feel
very
comfortable with this. She
is
one
of
the
most
pleasant
women
I
have become
acquainted with, very
modest and industrious,
a
suberb
personality.
Do
come
here
soon
and
talk
to
her;
should she not
seem
suitable
to
you or
should
you
not be able to
agree
on
the
conditions for
some
reason, you
can
just
say
no (directly
to
her).
If
you
were
to
decide to
accept, you
would have
a
comfortable home in
which
you
would
really
be master and in control.
So
write
a
postcard
as
soon as possible[6]
[she
has to decide
quickly
where she
should
move]
to
Mrs. Rosa Bandi
49
Beder St. II.
Zurich,
in
which
you announce
the
time of
your
visit.
Treat
her
very considerately;
she
has
already
had
so
much misfortune.
With best
regards,
yours,
Einstein
If
you prefer,
I’ll
go
with
you.