On the Nazi rise to power, and plans to help others escape the regime.

'Personally I didn't have it too badly, unlike nearly all those who are close to me in some way or another'. Einstein blames the situation on the disastrous legacy of Bismarck. Although almost collapsing under the weight of his existing obligations, he encourages Besso to let him have his suggestions for saving Hermann Weyl from the regime – though substituting him for Einstein on a proposed trip to Spain would seem disastrously tactless. He sends his regards to Anna Besso, with the rueful remark that the German example bodes ill for an intellectual utopia which she had proposed.

Einstein had returned to Europe in March 1933, and immediately renounced his German citizenship: the Nazi regime reacted by confiscating his possessions, burning his publications and putting a bounty on his head. After an initially staying in Belgium and England, Einstein returned to the USA in October 1933 to take up an offer of a post at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, where he was to remain until his death.