316 THE LATER JOURNEY
not explicitly anti-Semitic, although it could be interpreted as such [K9]. On
August 24, 1920, a newly founded organization, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft
deutscher Naturforscher, organized a meeting in Berlin's largest concert hall for
the purpose of criticizing the content of relativity theory and the alleged tasteless
propaganda made for it by its author.* Einstein attended. Three days later he
replied in the Berliner Tageblatt [E44], noting that reactions might have been
otherwise had he been 'a German national with or without swastika instead of a
Jew with liberal international convictions,' quoting authorities such as Lorentz,
Planck, and Eddington in support of his work, and grossly insulting Lenard on
the front page. One may sympathize. By then, Lenard was already on his way to
becoming the most despicable of all German scientists of any stature. Nevertheless,
Einstein's article is a distinctly weak piece of writing, out of style with anything
else he ever allowed to be printed under his name. On September 6 the German
minister of culture wrote to him, expressing his profound regrets about the events
of August 24 [K10]. On September 9 Einstein wrote to Born, 'Don't be too hard
on me. Everyone has to sacrifice at the altar of stupidity from time to time ... and
this I have done with my article' [E45].
From September 19 to 25, the Gesellschaft der deutschen Naturforscher und
Arzte met in Bad Nauheim. Einstein and Lenard were present. The official record
of the meeting shows only that they engaged in useless but civilized debate on
relativity [E46]. However, Born recalls that Lenard attacked Einstein in malicious
and patently anti-Semitic ways [B6], while Einstein promised Born soon after-
ward not again to become as worked up as he had been in Nauheim [E46a]. The
building in which the meeting was held was guarded by armed police [F4], but
there were no incidents.
It would, of course, have been easy for Einstein to leave Germany and find an
excellent position elsewhere. He chose not to do so because 'Berlin is the place to
which I am most closely tied by human and scientific connections' [E46b].
Invited by the College de France, Einstein went to Paris in March 1922 to
discuss his work with physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers. Relations
between France and Germany were still severely strained, and the trip was
sharply criticized by nationalists in both countries. In order to avoid demonstra-
tions, Einstein left the train to Paris at a suburban station [L6]. Shortly after this
visit, he accepted an invitation to become a member of the Committee on Intellec-
tual Cooperation of the League of Nations. Germany did not enter the League
until 1926, and so Einstein was once again in an exposed position. On June 24
Walter Rathenau, who had been foreign minister of Germany for only a few
months, a Jew and an acquaintance of Einstein's, was assassinated. On July 4
Einstein wrote to Marie Curie that he must resign from the committee, since the
murder of Rathenau had made it clear to him that strong anti-Semitism did not
make him an appropriate member [E47]. A week later he wrote to her of his
intention to give up his Akademie position and to settle somewhere as a private
This organization later published a book entitled 700 Autoren Gegen Einstein [12].