D O C U M E N T 3 7 M A Y 1 9 1 9 5 9
weight during the war (see Doc. 34).
[8]Lorentz suggested that members of the German government be contacted before approaching
foreign individuals (see Doc. 34).
[9]Two days earlier, on 7 May, the Allies at Versailles handed a preliminary version of a peace
treaty to the German delegation. By its terms, Germany was forced to cede territory to France
(Alsace-Lorraine) in the west and to Poland in the east; the German Army was limited to 100,000
soldiers; and the size of its navy was also limited. It was further required by Article 231 to accept
responsibility for the war, and to pay reparations to the Allied governments. On 8 May, the treaty was
front-page news in Berlin. See “Die Gebietsforderungen der Entente,” “Überreichung des Entwurfs,”
and “Die Rede des Grafen Brockdorff-Rantzau,” Vossische Zeitung, 8 May 1919, Morning Edition;
“Die unannehmbaren Friedensbedingungen,” with subtitle “Nein!,” Berliner Tageblatt, 8 May 1919,
Morning Edition; and “Abgabe der Friedensbedingungen,” Die Rote Fahne, 8 May 1919.
[10]Lorentz advised sending a telegram (see Doc. 34).
[11]Compounding the burden of Max Planck’s ambivalence about Germany’s actions in World War
I (see, e.g., Max Planck to Einstein, 26 October 1918 [Vol. 8, Doc. 640]) were his personal tragedies:
the loss of his first wife Marie (*1861) in 1909, and two of his children during the war: son Karl
(*1888) was killed in action in 1916, and his daughter Margarete Fehling née Planck (*1889) died
after childbirth the following year (see Max Planck to Einstein, 26 May 1917 [Vol. 8, Doc. 345], note
2, and Heilbron 1986, pp. 82–84).
For more on Planck’s wartime reluctance to support a commission of inquiry into alleged German
war crimes, see Doc. 34, note 5.
[12]The German delegation was given fifteen days after 7 May, later extended by one week, to pre-
pare in writing any objections, questions, and counterproposals to the preliminary treaty.
37. To Paul Natorp
[Berlin,] 11. V. 19.
Hoch geehrter Herr
Kollege![1]
Ich habe Ihren neuen Entwurf studiert und kann ihn nun durchaus
billigen.[2]
Nun hoffe ich von Herzen, dass sich ein stattliches Häufchen Gesinnungsgenossen
finden möge, die im Ernst mitgehen. Die meisten auch der Intelligentesten sind lei-
der ausschliesslich Hüter ihrer—Sonder- bezw. Standesinteressen. Ich bin sehr
neugierig, von Ihnen etwas über den Erfolg der Aktion zu
erfahren.[3]
Mit gleicher
Post sende ich Ihnen einen Artikel von
Kautsky,[4]
den ich sehr beachtenswert fin-
de.
Es grüsst Sie herzlich Ihr
A. Einstein.
AKS (GyMarU, Hs. 831:694). [72 204]. The verso is addressed “Herrn Prof. Dr. P. Natorp Universität
Marburg,” with return address “Abs. A. Einstein Haberlandstr. 5 Berlin,” and postmarked “Berlin W
15 11.5.19. 6–7N[achmittags].”
[1]Paul Natorp (1854–1924) was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Marburg.
[2]In April 1919, Natorp and his close colleagues wrote a draft, and printed a small number of sam-
ple copies, of the “Appeal of the German Intellect for Socialism” (“Aufruf des deutschen Geistes zum
Sozialismus”), together with “To the Intellectuals of the Proletariat” (“An die Geistigen des Proleta-
riats”), both attached to a printed circular of Paul Natorp, Wilhelm Schäfer, Hermann Herrigel, Alfons
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