Albert Einstein. 11 April 1946

Albert Einstein (1879-1955).

Autograph letter signed (‘A. Einstein‘) to Otto Juliusburger, [Princeton], 11 April 1946.

In German. One page, 276 x 214mm (a few markings in red or lead pencil). Envelope.

'Constantly under the pressure of intractable problems': on his scientific work, the guilt of Hitler, and the depersonalisation of the modern age. As often, Einstein opens by admitting his guilt at not having written sooner: 'My excuse lies solely in the fact that I am constantly under the pressure of intractable problems, so that I can not bring myself into the contemplative attitude which is necessary for writing letters to friends'. He is grateful for a quotation from Kleist, and some articles that Juliusburger has written, and notes that one of the advantages of old age is that 'one becomes more independent of one's personal fortunes, without any diminution in the pleasure in objective things'. Einstein goes on to address a point raised by Juliusburger regarding Adolf Hitler's personal responsibility: for Einstein, 'There is no objective free will. I think that we should protect ourselves against people who are dangerous to others'; he links what he perceives as a decline in ethical behaviour with mechanisation and a consequent depersonalisation of human lives – 'a disastrous by-product of the development of the scientific-technical spirit. Nostra culpa! ... The human race is cooling faster than the planet on which it sits'. The letter ends with an expression of sympathy at the illness of Juliusburger's wife.

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