D O C . 8 0 A U G U S T 1 9 1 9 6 7 she feels. Your visit is all the more a blessing for her, since I have to leave soon now, and my sister is tied very much to the house. If you should happen to have passport difficulties in Germany or in Switzerland, please do send me a message to Berlin (5 Haberlandstr.) so that I can do my part. Also be aware that one is not permitted to take more than 50 marks of German money across the border. What haven’t we seen happen since we last saw each other! Do you still remem- ber our conversations?[4] Once the social problems are somehow overcome, we’ll be able to delight in this land in which we live. It will hold true once again that fail- ure and scarcity are the best tutors and purgers. Admittedly, the process is painful and one is only too inclined to place the blame on the external enemy. But I hope that our assessment over here will become fairer when old sins gradually come to light.[5] In that, much too little is being done, unfortunately. I hope there will soon be an opportunity for us to see each other again so that we can talk about all these things. It goes without saying that you will be staying at Maja’s so that you won’t have to face any strangers nor have to worry about practical matters during your stay.[6] Now I’ll let Mama say something. She will write only briefly, though, because writ- ing is very uncomfortable for her while lying down. Warm greetings, yours, Albert. 80. To Hendrik A. Lorentz Lucerne, 1 August 1919 Highly esteemed Colleague, It is of extraordinary value to our cause that you are giving us your support to such a significant degree. We must also thankfully welcome and acknowledge the fact that the specified French and Belgian scholars want to help us. We were unsuc- cessful in gaining access to the documents stacked up there right up to my depar- ture on June 28th there is both open and, especially, covert resistance.[1] Here, ob- viously, I hear nothing about what has happened since my departure, so I shall only be able to respond properly to your amicable letter[2] when I come home again (mid-August). I understand the bitterness about the famous Manifesto of the 93, which, inci- dentally, was drafted by the writer Sudermann.[3] When I once happened to sit next to him and spoke in no uncertain terms about that manifesto, he openly, and without much shame, admitted to being its author. He is, moreover, a decent person of rare
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