I have given it as the reason for my resignation from the Prussian

Academy that in the present circumstances I have no wish either

to be a German citizen or to remain in a position of

quasi-dependence on the Prussian Ministry of Education.

These reasons would not, in themselves, involve the severing of

my relations with the Bavarian Academy. If I nevertheless desire

my name to be removed from the list of members, it is for a

different reason.

The primary duty of an Academy is to encourage and protect

the scientific life of a country. The learned societies of Germany

have, however--to the best of knowledge--stood by and said

nothing while a not inconsiderable proportion of German savants

and students, and also of professional men of university

education, have been deprived of all chance of getting

employment or earning their livings in Germany. I would rather

not belong to any society which behaves in such a manner, even

if it does so under external pressure.

A Reply

The following lines are Einstein's answer to an invitation to associate

himself with a French manifesto against Anti-Semitism in Germany.

I have considered this most important proposal, which has a bearing on

several things that I have nearly at heart, carefully from every angle. As a

result I have come to the conclusion that I cannot take a personal part in

this extremely important affair, for two reasons:--

In the first place I am, after all, still a German citizen, and in the

second I am a Jew. As regards the first point I must add that I have worked

in German institutions and have always been treated with full confidence in

Germany. However deeply I may regret the things that are being done there,

however strongly I am bound to condemn the terrible mistakes that are being

made with the approval of the Government; it is impossible for me to take

part personally in an enterprise set on foot by responsible members of a

foreign Government. In order that you may appreciate this fully, suppose

that a French citizen in a more or less analogous situation had got up a

protest against the French Government's action in conjunction with prominent

German statesmen. Even if you fully admitted that the protest was amply

warranted by the facts, you would still, I expect, regard the behaviour of

your fellow-citizen as an act of treachery. If Zola had felt it necessary to

leave France at the time of the Dreyfus case, he would still certainly not

have associated himself with a protest by German official personages,

however much he might have approved of their action. He would have confined

himself to--blushing for his countrymen. In the second place, a protest

against injustice and violence is incomparably more valuable if it comes

entirely from people who have been prompted to it purely by sentiments of

humanity and a love of Pew This cannot be said of a man like me, a few who

regards other Jews as his brothers. For him, an injustice done to the Jews