Mere Weeks After Hitler’s Rise to Power, Einstein Speaks on the Growing Global Chaos and Threat to Minorities: “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.”

He revises the typescript of his interview with the War Resisters League, of which he was Honorary Chairman, and calls out William Randolph Hearst and the head of the press and film empire in Germany, who aided Hitler’s rise

 

On philosophy: “The intellect without the emotions is insignificant”; On racism: “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” They ought to be “accepted with friendliness as equal members”

 

On the press: He criticizes William Randolph Heart by name, but says “The freedom of the press is necessary, despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it.”.

 

On pacifism and peace keeping: “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being”, “Society needs some form of organization, for security and protection in international life”, and “An international police force…is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving peace. Force, when used by an impartial third party to achieve law and order, it’s not contrary to pacifism”.

 

This document has never previously been offered for sale and was acquired by us from the family that has had it all this time

Einstein was well known as a pacifist until Hitler’s rise to power. In 1930, on his second visit to America, he joined the War Resisters League and accepted the office of Honorary Chairman. Einstein spoke to the organization that year, saying, “True pacifists must publicly declare in time of peace that they will not take up arms under any circumstances… even if only 2% of those assigned to perform military service should announce their refusal to fight, governments would be powerless, they would not dare send such a large number of people to jail.” The league then issued a pamphlet, “Einstein on War Resistance,” that was widely read and discussed.

Meanwhile, back in Germany, the rising Nazi movement found a convenient target in Einstein and relativity, branding the latter “Jewish physics” and sponsoring conferences and book burnings to denounce Einstein and his theories. The Nazis even enlisted other physicists to denounce Einstein; “One Hundred Authors Against Einstein” was published in 1931. When asked to comment on this denunciation of relativity by so many scientists, Einstein replied that to defeat relativity one did not need the word of 100 scientists, just one fact.

In December 1932 Einstein decided to leave Germany. The reason: it became obvious to him that his life was in danger. A Nazi organization published a magazine with Einstein’s picture and the caption “Not Yet Hanged” on the cover. There was even a price on his head. In January 1933, Einstein came to the United States to serve at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California as a visiting professor. The appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor took effect late that month, and Einstein decided he would not return to his home in Germany where he had been a professor at the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He would instead return to Europe and assess the situation from there. He and his wife Elsa returned by ship to Belgium in March 1933 to find that that their residences in Germany had been raided numerous times. Einstein accepted the fact that he could not return to Germany and turned in his passport to the German consulate; he also formally renounced his German citizenship. By the summer, Einstein learned that his name was on a list of assassination targets. He resided in Belgium for some months and then moved to England for a short period. On October 17, 1933, he returned to the US and took up a position at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton in New Jersey. And there he remained until his death.

On February 15, 1933, after Hitler had taken power but before Einstein learned that his homes had been raided, he granted an interview to the War Resisters League at the home of one of its officials, John Dorland. Dorland wanted the interview to be read aloud at the upcoming March 2 meeting of the members in Pasadena. He prepared a five page typescript of the interview and sent it to Einstein to review. As Dorland said in his cover letter to Einstein, “Would you be kind enough to read it, and if the answers misrepresent you in any detail, may we request that you revise it in such particular, as we are very anxious to have these correct.” He also asked Einstein’s permission to read the interview aloud.

This is the original typescript of the Einstein interview, sent to Einstein by Dorland, complete with Einstein’s handwritten notations. It is the only such annotated interview of Einstein that we have seen, and it covers important topics.

On page one, Einstein makes it clear he was not ready to abandon his resistance to war. “The War Resisters,” he stated at the interview, “are doing a fine work. They have done more than any other peace group. A strong organized minority who have declared themselves absolutely against war is very powerful.” Question from Dorland. “Can we hope to convince everybody?” Answer: “Oh no, we cannot convince everybody, but we do not need to. One strong man is worth much and has great influence, Individuals thoroughly convinced and small groups working earnestly are of the utmost value.” Q: “In trying to arouse interest is it better to appeal to the intellect or the emotions?” A: “To both; the intellect without the emotions is insignificant.”

On page two, Einstein states that “Public protests are very valuable”, as is control over munitions production. “The private munitions business is a great threat to the peace of the world and there should be government control. Public opinion is not yet awake to the atrocities of the munitions firms.” Then Dorland changes the subject to “race relations.” Einstein responded, “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” Then Einstein hand writes in some thoughts. If they are not afforded such security, “they should isolate themselves from the rest of society, since they are not accepted with friendliness as equal members.” Then some fascinating free thoughts emerge. Clearly thinking of the Jews in Germany, he crosses out “It [insecurity] is not so bad” and instead says “They can achieve a healthy existence”. But thinking of the current situation, he finishes the thought by adding at least “Up until now!” He surely had less confidence about the future.

On page three Einstein discusses the part to be played by international organizations. “The main thing is organization. Disputes will always come, but we must have other methods than war for settling them. Society needs some form of organization, for security and protection in international life.” Einstein then writes in, “Obligatory court of arbitration. Unconditional obligation of the states to accept their verdicts and enforce them.” He is then asked which is less threatening to the progress of peace, a professional army or universal military conscription. Einstein answers “The professional army is better because then only the professional soldiers become imbued with the military spirit.” Asked about Japan leaving the League of Nations, he hand writes “It is better to let Japan secede from the League of Nations rather than have it [the League] compromised by a bad compromise.” Sooner let them go than compromise principles to keep them in. Lastly he is asked for his definition of a pacifist, and responds, “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being.”

On page four, Einstein continues by saying that a pacifist “must be active in the prevention of war; that is, he must support justice, arbitration, and conciliation.” In terms of having some international force enforce the peace, Einstein is in favor. “an international police force, as suggested by the French, is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving peace. Force, when used by an impartial third party to achieve law and order, it’s not contrary to pacifism. This international force would exist only for a transition, perhaps 20 years.” Dorland then asks Einstein, “What do you think of the control over public opinion by the press?” Einstein in the interview stated it was not good, but in this document he elaborated further. “The freedom of the press is necessary, despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it. This is the point with the biggest dependence of the peace movement (peace work) on economic circumstances. (Hearst in America and Hugenberg in Germany demonstrate this fact with frightening clarity)”. Alfred Hugenberg was the head of a press and film empire in Germany who aided Hitler’s rise. Einstein’s comparison of William Randolph Hearst with him is interesting. He clearly feels that the press in the wrong hands, motivated by profit and political power, was a danger. The next question was “Are religious bodies a power for peace?” Einstein’s answer: “Not greatly now.”

On the final page Einstein states his belief that, though no one can change human nature, “we can change traditional institutions.”

This document is full of gems: “The intellect without the emotions is insignificant”; “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” They ought to be “accepted with friendliness as equal members”; “Society needs some form of organization, for security and protection in international life”; “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being”; “An international police force…is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving peace. Force, when used by an impartial third party to achieve law and order, it’s not contrary to pacifism”; and “The freedom of the press is necessary, despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it.”

This is a great and fascinating rarity. A search of public sale records going back over 40 years turns up only one other example of an Einstein annotated interview, nor have we ever had one.

It wasn’t long in 1933 before the intensity of the threat from Naziism convinced Einstein that only force would be a deterrent a Hitler triumph. He resigned from the War Resisters League later in 1933. To Einstein, pacifism became not an absolute concept, but one that had to be re-examined depending on the magnitude of the threat.