3 8 D O C S . 4 1 4 3 M A Y 1 9 1 9 41. From Georg Krakow 14 May 1919 [Not selected for translation.] 42. To Roland Holder [Berlin,] 18 May 1919 Dear Mr. Holder, It is a great joy for me that my boy was able to begin learning something under your guidance at the workshop.[1] He wrote me very enthusiastically about it and is [no] less grateful to you than I am myself. How happy would I have been as a boy if I had had such an opportunity![2] In six weeks I must lecture in Zurich[3] again and look forward to being able to thank you in person as well. With kind regards, yours truly, A. Einstein. 43. To Swabian League [Berlin,] 19 May 1919 Dear Sir, I have not yet answered your first amic. communication because the letter placed me in a nontrivial dilemma. Your proclamation appeals to me very much it breathes the spirit that all those of a better mentality have been bereft of so sorely of late.[1] On the other hand, however, I do not consider myself eligible to sign the proclamation because I am in fact not so qualified to come forward as a Swabian. I was born in Swabia, the son of Swabian parents, but spent the crucial years of my life abroad,[2] so my love of the land of Swabia is founded more on literary than on direct personal experience. Thus I do not dare appear among the leaders of your cause but should rather stay humbly in the background. Furthermore you invite me to name someone who would write an essay about me and my theory, so I thought long and hard about whom I should name. But I felt it presumptuous to demand such a paper from any one of them. As a result, in the pressure of daily business, I let your letter lie undealt with and still do not know how I should fulfill your wish. But so that you see that I truly do not lack good intentions, I declare myself happily ready to check the factual part of any article treating my theory carefully. It should not be all that difficult for you to find an au-
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