The Einstein Dossiers: Science and Politics — Einstein’s Berlin Period with an Appendix on Einstein’s FBI File PDF
Preview The Einstein Dossiers: Science and Politics — Einstein’s Berlin Period with an Appendix on Einstein’s FBI File
TheEinsteinDossiers Siegfried Grundmann The Einstein Dossiers Science and Politics – Einstein’s Berlin Period with an Appendix on Einstein’s FBI File TranslatedbyAnnM.Hentschel with65Figures 123 ProfessorDr.sc.phil.SiegfriedGrundmann Weichselstraße1,10247Berlin,Germany TitleoftheGermanedition:S.GrundmannEinsteinsAkte.SecondEdition ©Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2004 ISBN3-540-20699-XSpringerBerlinHeidelbergNewYork LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2005930169 ISBN-10 3-540-25661-XSpringerBerlinHeidelbergNewYork ISBN-13 978-3-540-25661-8SpringerBerlinHeidelbergNewYork Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.Allrightsarereserved,whetherthewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned, specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductionon microfilmorinanyotherway,andstorageindatabanks.Duplicationofthispublicationorpartsthereofispermitted onlyundertheprovisionsoftheGermanCopyrightLawofSeptember9,1965,initscurrentversion,andpermission forusemustalwaysbeobtainedfromSpringer.ViolationsareliableforprosecutionundertheGermanCopyright Law. SpringerisapartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia springeronline.com ©Springer-VerlagBerlinHeidelberg2005 PrintedinGermany Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,etc.inthispublicationdoesnotimply,evenin theabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsand thereforefreeforgeneraluse. Coverdesign:ErichKirchner,Heidelberg Production:LE-TEXJelonek,Schmidt&VöcklerGbR,Leipzig Typesetting:Da-TEXGerdBlumenstein,Leipzig Printedonacid-freepaper 55/3141/YL-543210 Formygrandchildren Norma and Emil Preface Inwisepremonitionofwhatwastocome,thePrussianMinistryofScience,Arts andCultureopenedadossieron“Einstein’sTheoryofRelativity”inNovember 1919.1 The first indication I found of the existence of this dossier in 1960 was in BrunoThüring’sdiatribepublishedin1942on“AlbertEinstein’sattempttoover- throw physics [...].”2 As Thüring saw it, the mere fact that a ministry of the WeimarRepublic3 couldcompilesuchafilewasevidenceenoughoftheextent to which propaganda tools of the State were being exploited for the benefit of theJewEinstein.Thüringwantedtousethedossier“todrawtheactivitiesofthe Jewry[...]outofthedarkortwilightinwhichtheyhadintentionallybeenheld in obscurity up to the National Socialist breakthrough” and to expose them to “thebrightlightofcriticalAryanscience.” Aftermucheffortandalmostfeverishsearching,Idiscoveredthisfilein1962 in Merseburg, a small town near Leipzig (in the Merseburg branch of the for- merGermanCentralArchive).ThefilesofthePrussianMinistryofCulturehad beenremovedthereforstorageduringthewarandonlysomeofthefileswere accessible.TheEinsteindossierbecamethebasisofmydoctoralthesis,whichI defendedintheKarlSudhoffInstitutefortheHistoryofMedicineandtheSci- encesattheUniversityofLeipzigin1964.4 In 1993 the file was returned to its original location, the former Secret Prussian State Archive (since then referred to as: Geheimes Staatsarchiv – PreußischerKulturbesitz)intheBerlindistrictofDahlem.Itwaslongthought tobetheonlyintegralfileexplicitlydedicatedto“Einstein”and“thetheoryof relativity.” Since then, it has become evident that numerous “Einstein” dossiers exist, includingproceduraldocumentation.Bysheervolumethesealsodeservetobe consideredfilesintheirownright: 1. Thepreviouslymentioneddossier:“Einstein’sTheoryofRelativity”intheSe- cretPrussianStateArchive(Berlin). 2.and3. Two files on “Lectures by Professor Einstein Abroad” in the Political ArchiveoftheForeignOffice(Berlin).5 4. The“Einstein”sectionofthefile“Expatriation”6attheForeignOffice. 5.to11. SevenfilesintheofficialarchivesoftheCommunityofCaputh.7 VIII Preface 12. The file “Property Purchase for Professor Dr. Albert Einstein” in the Main ArchiveoftheLandofBrandenburg(Potsdam).8 13. Thefile“Einstein,Albert... CitizenshipMatters”intheSecretPrussianState Archive(Berlin).9 Other matters of business concerning Einstein – such as the expropriation of hissailboat10 andtheconfiscationofhisbankaccounts11 –arerecordedinvery manyotherfilesaswell.Thepolicefile“Einstein”citedbyHerneck12(hencestill physically accessible after 1945), however, could not be located despite a most intensivesearch. Other files on Einstein have to be considered lost: The Gestapo’s Einstein dossier is one. A cataloguing card discovered in the Federal Archive in Berlin indicatesthattheGestapodid,infact,maintainadossieronEinstein.Theob- viousassumptionthatthisfilecouldnowbeinthe“NSArchive”oftheformer MinistryofStateSecurityoftheGermanDemocraticRepublic(nowArchiveof the Federal Commissioner for Files of the State Security Service of the former GermanDemocraticRepublic–abbreviatedhereasBStU)couldnotbeverified. A search in the Special Archive in Moscow (where holdings from German ar- chivesweretransferredtoMoscowafter1945)waslikewiseunsuccessful.Inany event,theresponsetoaninquiryinthisregardwasnegative;notevenPresident Putincouldassistmeanyfurther. AtleastonecompleteEinsteindossierexistselsewhere:theFBI’sEinsteinfile attheNationalArchivesinWashington.13Itwasnotavailabletomepriortopub- licationofthefirstGermaneditionofthisbook.Thecompletefileiscurrently availableontheInternet.IamgratefultoFredJeromeforfirstsuggestingtome toperusethissource.(Jeromehassinceauthoredthebook“TheEinsteinFile.”)14 Thefirstofthesefilesalreadybroachesthetopicof“scienceandpolitics.” Itcomprisesaformidable523sheetsandhasthecapaciousbreadthofabout 10cm.Thetemporaldistributionoftheindividualissuesinthefilealreadydoc- umentsthefluctuationinactivityduringtheperiodbetweentheNovemberRev- olutionandtheestablishmentofNationalSocialisminGermany. If we consider recurrent identical enclosures as a single issue and further- moretreatenclosedbrochureseachasasingleissue,thegraphdepictedabove emerges:ThejumpinthenumberofeventsintheperiodafterNovember1919, when the results of the British solar eclipse expedition were made known, is clearlyapparent.Thiswasthepoliticallyunsettled“postwarperiod.”Thebattles over Einstein’s theory of relativity then subside and there is a lull in the mid- 1920s–“Superficially,atleast,”asMaxBornwroteinhismemoirs.15 Itisnoco- incidence that this was simultaneously the more peaceful, apparently “golden” yearsoftheWeimarRepublic.Theeventsaccruedramaticallytowardtheendof the1920s.Einsteinagainbecomesapreferredright-wingtarget.Animosityto- wardhim,Borncontinues,hadsmolderedon“untilitflaredupagainopenlyin 1933.”16 WehavearrivedattheperiodoftheglobaleconomiccrisisandHitler’s seizure of power in 1933. The situation develops into an open conflict between EinsteinandtheGermanReich;Einsteinisdrivenintoexile. Preface IX Figure 1: Cover of the dossier “Einstein’s Theory of Relativity” from the Prussian Ministry of Science, Arts and Culture – opened November 1919, closed October 1934. (A file cover dating to before the war was used: The ministry – commonly referred to in short as the “Prussian Ministry of Culture” – was formerly called “Prussian Ministry of Intellectual, Educational and Medicinal Affairs.” Pursuant to a cabinet decree of 13 Mar. 1911, the entire administration of medicinal affairs – stripped of scientific and medical education – was transferred to the Ministry of theInterior.Theministrythusbecamea“PrussianMinistryofIntellectualandEd- ucational Affairs.” On 1 Nov. 1919 it was renamed again to “Prussian Ministry of Science,ArtsandCulture.”On1May1934theministrywasincorporatedwithinthe “ReichMinistryofScience,EducationandCulture.”) X Preface 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 Figure 2: Distribution of the number of issues covered in “Einstein’s dossier” be- tweenNovember1919andOctober1934. Thetwodelimitingpillarsofthedossieraredownrightsymbolic. Right at the front of the file (sheet 2) we find Albert Einstein’s letter to PrussianMinisterofScience,ArtsandCultureHaenischfrom6December1919. In it Einstein expresses his appreciation that the State Budgetary Committee of the Constituent Prussian Assembly had promised to make available 150,000 marks for empirical research in the area of the general theory of relativity. At thesametimehementionshisreservationsaboutsucharesolutionbeingmade during a time of severe economic need with the potential of triggering bitter feelingsamongthepublicatlarge.Hepointsoutconditionsunderwhichanex- perimental test of the theory is possible without such high expenditures. The file closes with a letter by his worst enemy, the Nobel laureate Philipp Lenard, toReichMinisterofPublicInformationandPropagandaGoebbelsfrom8Octo- ber1934,triumphantlydemandingacompletesettlingofaccountswithEinstein andhistheory.Lenardcallsforpersonalconsequencesforanyonestillfollowing Einstein,evenifonlyonthescientificterrain,andtheexpulsionofallhissym- pathizersfromacademicchairs.Healsousespoliticalargumentsinmakinghis case against his archenemy. Nor should Einstein have any influence in science becauseitis“sopoliticallyharmful.”17 Basedonthecontentthedossiercanbedividedintothreeparts.Therelevant topicswouldbe: 1. Einsteinispromoted. 2. Einsteinisexploited. 3. Einsteinisattackedandchasedaway. Thesetopicsareinterrelated.Hewaspromotedbecausehewasbeingexploited. Andwhilehewasbeingattackedpoliticallybyright-wingelements,andforthat reason frequently traveled abroad, Einstein was still useful as a representative ofGermaninterestsoutsidethecountry.Initially,hispromotionpredominates, Preface XI thenhisexploitation,andfinallyopenenmity.Despitethetemporaloverlapping ofthesethreeelements,personalpromotionisgenerallyattributabletothepe- riod of the Kaiserreich, political exploitation to the Weimar Republic (roughly until Germany’s entrance in the League of Nations), and politicalanimosity to the end of the Weimar Republic and Hitler’s “Third Reich.” Methodologically it is relatively easy to separate the Kaiserreich from the Weimar Republic. It is amuchmorecomplicatedproblemtodivideWeimarandtheThirdReich,pri- marilybecausetheWeimarperiodwasnotsuchasoundworldasissometimes supposed. For the German original editions of this book, I chose the title “Einstein Akte”withreferencetothisEinsteindossierinparticular.Itisnowevidentthat thisreferenceistoolimited,forotherfilesalsoplayedatleastasimportantarole inthepresentwork.ButIwouldnotliketorelinquishcompletelyanycorrelation tothisfoundationstoneofmyresearch.ThatiswhyIoptedforthepluralform, hence:“Einstein’sDossiers.”18 The topic of inquiry I had chosen four decades ago still influences my ap- proachtothepersonalityAlbertEinstein.Itwasnot,andstillisnotmyintention towriteyetanotherbiographyofEinstein.Myobjecthereisrather:“scienceand politics,mindandmight,intellectualandpolitician–asexemplifiedbyAlbert Einstein,”withinthecontextofEinstein’s“Berlinperiod.”Iamfullyawarethat these themes are abstractions and polarities as do not and cannot really exist in so apodictic a form. There are such things as apolitical theories (Einstein’s theory of relativity among them), but no such thing as apolitical science. The “intelligentsia”(inrecenttimesparticularlythescientificintelligentsia)hasal- wayshelpeditselftopolitics–whethertoourbenefitordetrimentremainsan openquestion. Sothisisnotanewbiography.Theexistingoneswillsuffice.19Einstein’slove life is of no interest here either, nor his manner of dress or eating habits. Ein- stein’scharacter,styleoflifeandopinionsaretakenintoconsiderationonlyin- sofarastheyareofpoliticalsignificance. Asthenamesakeofthisworkandapivotalpointoftheaction,Einsteincon- stitutes only half of the title and only one pivotal point of the plot. In a much moregeneralsense,thepersonEinsteinisnotevenatthefocusofthisstudy. Thisisnotalteredbythefactthattheappendix(on“TheFBI’sEinsteinfile– reportsonAlbertEinstein’sBerlinperiod”)ledmetodelvequitedeeplyintothe privatelifeofEinstein.Thesubjectofthereports,allegingEinstein’scomplicityin undergroundcommunistactivities,compelledmetodoso.Ihadtoinvestigate hislivingconditionsandofficespace,hisfamilyrelationsandrelationshipswith otherpersonsinordertoassessclaimsthatEinsteinwaspoliticallyactiveduring hisBerlinperiodandinordertobeabletoverifyorfalsifythemaccordingly. ThefactthatEinsteinwasbornon14March1879,at11o’clockand30minutes inthemorninginUlmatBahnhofstraßeno.135,maybeofimportelsewhere.20 Here, however, it suffices to place his birth year roughly toward the end of the seventiesofthenineteenthcentury,theperiodofBismarck’ssocialistlaw,anun- precedentedstrengtheningoftheGermanEmpirefoundedin1871,theflowering XII Preface of the capital Berlin, the “Gründerzeit,” a time of promoterism21 and of strife. Amoreprecisedatingofhisbirthonlygainsrelevancewhencomparedagainst otherscientistswholaterbecameclosecollaboratorsofhis–ifnotdeclareden- emies. Both Otto Hahn and Max von Laue were born in the same year as Ein- stein. Laue later became one of Einstein’s closest friends.22 The physicists Lise Meitner(born1878)andMaxBorn(born1882)aswellasthelaterPrussianMin- isters of Culture Haenisch (born 1876) and Becker (born 1876) were about the sameageasEinstein.Thepersonsatleasttenyearshisseniorwere:FritzHaber (born1868),AdolfvonHarnack(1851),LeopoldKoppel(1854),HendrikAntoon Lorentz(1853),WaltherNernst(1864),MaxPlanck(1858),FriedrichSchmidt-Ott (1860), Wilhelm Siemens (1855), and Emil Warburg (1846). His bitterest oppo- nent,PhilippLenard(born1862),wassubstantiallyolderthanhim.Anotherop- ponent of his, Johannes Stark, was only five years his senior (born 1874). We mightdispensealtogetherwithmentioningtheactualdateofEinstein’sbirth,if itdidnothappentocoincidewiththatofKonradHaenisch–Prussianminister ofscience,artandculturefrom1918to1921. ThefactthatEinsteinwasthefatherofthetheoryofrelativityandanimpor- tantscientistinother–related–areasofphysics,doesnothavetotakecenter stageinthisworkeither.Thequalityandvalidityofthetheoryis,nowadays,no longercontentious.ItsufficestoknowthatEinsteincountsasoneofthegreat- est scholars in the history of mankind. Today virtually no one questions Fritz Haber’spremonitionatthe50thanniversaryofAlbertEinstein’sbirth:“Inafew hundred years, the manonthe street will know our timesas the period ofthe WorldWar,butthecultivatedpersonwillconnectyournamewiththefirstquar- terofthiscentury,justastodaytheformerremembersthewarsofLouisXIVat thecloseofthe17thcenturyasthelatterremembersIsaacNewton.”23 Thefact thatEinsteinhappenedtobethecreatorofthetheoryofrelativity,asopposed tosomeother(hypothetically“equivalent”)theory,isofsecondaryimportance hereaswell.Ifreferenceismadetothesubstanceofthetheory,thenonlybecause hiscontemporariesdrewsuchconnectionsbetweenthechangingmoralvaluesof theperiodafterWorldWarIandthecontentofthetheory. Myinitialassumptionisthatauthorandreaderareinagreementononething only:AlbertEinsteinwasevidentlyandindisputablyoneofthegreatestscholars inthehistoryofmankind.Inotherrespects,Einsteinissimplytreatedlikethe famous“blackbox.”Wecomparetheinputagainsttheoutput.Thedifferencebe- tweenthetwowouldthenbeinterpretedastheregularconsequenceofEinstein’s characteristics or as a result of chance. Einstein’s characteristics, opinions and achievementsaredrawnintothediscussiononlywheretheyarenecessaryforex- plainingthehistoricalphenomena.Thosecharacteristics,opinionsandachieve- mentsofnosocialrelevancewillremainbeyondthescopeofconsideration. Suchanaxiomaticapproachwillnotalwaysbefeasible,ofcourse.For,itis the details and anecdotes that give the story its zest. Any such inconsistencies intreatingthismaterialwillneverthelessdonothingtochangethefactthatthe biographicalelementdoesnotlieatthefocusofthisbook. WhatwillbeexaminedisAlbertEinstein’splaceinGermanpolitics–therela-
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