Einstein, Albert — Edwin Roth

6 pages (13 x 8 in.; 330 x 203 mm),; formerly folded. With: news clipping and photocopies of the publication of the report in German, and biographical material about the journalist. In a green plastic photo album.

a few fold marks, clean
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Einstein's hopes for Israel in his last days.

Some days before his death, Einstein granted an interview to the Austrian journalist Edwin Roth (1924-2010) at his home on Mercer Street in Princeton. They spoke in German, and Roth composed a condensed report of the interview, which was published 23-24 April in various German newspapers, five days after Einstein's death. The present typescript is Roth's English version of the report, which he submitted to Einstein for comment and correction.

Einstein's corrections add precision to the text, while suppressing some of the homespun cozy intimacy and the exaggerated praise the journalist tried to impose on the event. For example, in the phrase " ... this man who has changed the history of the world" the word "history" became "scientific picture;" the sentence "He loves to have young people around him. He is young in heart - eternally young" is entirely suppressed. The mention of the Unified Field Theory is made more concise. In the sentence "Behind Einstein's genius shines his belief in an orderly universe under the directing hand of God" the last six words are crossed out. Towards the end, Roth asked Einstein "I should be most grateful if you would insert here some more about Israel."

Einstein obliged with the following comment in German (trans.):

"I am confident that we will achieve a reasonable attitude of the government gradually, due to many joint interests, to reach a state of true and lasting peace with the Arabs. I hope, with some confidence, that the currently threatening influence of a narrow-minded and [?...] orthodoxy will be overcome by the cooperation of the more intelligent [Intelligenteren] in the not too distant future, and indeed rather by patient educational work,  than by political coalition tactics."