Einstein, Albert | "I am happy about the [peace overtures] ... How nice it would be if it were able to last"

Einstein, Albert
Autograph letter signed ("A.E.") to Rudolph Ehrman. [Princeton]: 20 March 1953

Autograph letter (288 x 215 mm) on 1 leaf, written in German on recto, executed in black ink, signed ("A.E.") and dated "20. III. 53."; old horizontal and vertical folds, closed internal tear at head, laid down on a sheet of white paper.

A playful letter from Einstein to Rudolph Ehrman during the height of the Cold War

Here Einstein writes to his friend and physician in Berlin, Rudolph Ehrman, in a typically warm and jovial manner. Einstein begins by joking that he plans to become Ehrman's "dangerous competitor" in New York, planning to pass his medical exams "with flying colors," and jokes of Ehrman's "recent achievements in the field of lewd poetry." Though predominantly a playful letter, it notably includes a more somber reflection—Einstein acknowledges the peace overtures between Eisenhower, Dulles, and Malenkov, but then writes "Well one can never be sure what the goy is capable of doing or not doing." A significant statement, reflecting the long arc of the twentieth century.

A translation of the letter reads in full:

"Dear Mr. Ehrman:

Once I have ingested the learned medical book, and if my gut, my arteries and veins still allow it, I plan (of course only after having passed the exam with flying colors) to settle in NY as your dangerous competitor. Reason enough to thank you cordially for it. On the other hand, after your most recent achievement in the field of lewd poetry I have complete lost confidence in my ability to drawn even with you in this rather slippery subject. —

I am happy about the [peace overtures] that Ike [Dwight D. Eisenhower] and [John Foster] Dulles make to [Georgi] Malenkov. How nice it would be if it were able to last. — Well one can never know for sure what the goy is capable of doing or not doing.

Thanks very much and my best wishes to both of you and to the Fuld couple — the latter in case you still haven't quarreled yourselves apart —

from your
A.E."

Condition Report:
Condition as described in catalogue entry.