Berlin, 3 February 1928

The nervous turmoil of his life, and his position as a 'Jewish saint'.

As always, Einstein's letter opens with a self-mocking comment on how rarely he writes: 'Even the silent one sometimes utters a word, so that one can see that he is not completely dumb'. Maja can hardly imagine the nervous turmoil ('Nervenwalze') in which her brother lives: 'Work, my mission as a "Jewish saint" and "sociability" including blessed music fill life so effectively that one hardly comes to an awareness of one's self. This last has something for it – all of a sudden one is dead and does not even pay attention to really important business'.

He reports of his sons that Hans Albert is continuing to grow up into a fine young man: he is working in Dortmund as an engineer. Eduard is almost 18: 'He writes excellently, is somewhat too intellectual and is crazy about tigers, as they absolutely lack his own weaknesses. It is a shame that you don't know him at all; he is interesting'. Einstein will not however be able to visit for some time because of a potentially fatal health problem ('weil ich gewissen Dreck am Stecken habe, was fatale Folgen haben könnte in solchem Falle'): they may go to the Swiss mountains to recover, and to see the children. 'I have become completely grey, Elsa too somewhat'. The visit of a mutual friend prompts the reflection 'One does not become nobler with the years; reformation is a fraud'.
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