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This article comes from the official account of Wechat: ID:fanpu2019, author: Fang Zaiqing

Einstein, who has always resisted being a German, has gone from trying to prove his citizenship to deporting him over the past ten years, Einstein's German nationality has brought him convenience, but also brought trouble and even shame. Looking back on this story, we can realize the nobility and hard-won spirit of scientific internationalism. Today, the relations between science and society, between scientists and countries, and between countries are becoming more and more close and complex. How to create conditions so that scientists can give full play to their creative nature and contribute to human development and world peace is a great challenge before us.

March 14, 2023, marks the 144th anniversary of Einstein's birth, the 5th anniversary of Hawking's death, and the 4th International Mathematics Day. On this special day, at the end of this article, we carefully selected eight books about Einstein and four books by Hawking. Today, back to Park, Ertiao will release a number of math book lists. For this article, readers are welcome to express your feelings in the message area. The three people who receive the most likes will randomly receive a book list in addition to the popular science works published by Hunan Science and Technology Publishing House.

Write an article | Fang Zaiqing (researcher, Institute of History of Natural Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Einstein's nationality is not a problem at all. But after he won the 1921 Nobel Prize in physics in 1922, the situation became complicated. Although the Nobel Prize honors individual achievements, both the public and officials regard it as a national honor. As a result, the issue of Einstein's nationality finally turned into a diplomatic storm in which Einstein was forced to get involved.

Einstein was born in Germany and later moved to the United States and became an American citizen; when he taught at the German language University in Prague, he was required to be sworn in as a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; he held a Swiss passport and was a Swiss; and in his later years, the Israeli government tentatively invited him to serve as a second president. Fortunately, he did not agree, otherwise Israel would have been added to the nationality.

144 years ago today, on March 14, 1879, Einstein was born into a Jewish family in Ulm, the newly established German Empire (Kingdom of W ü rttemberg) and automatically acquired German (W ü rttemberg) nationality. In that year, the German historian Heinrich von Treitschke,1834-1896 shouted the slogan "Jews are our misfortune".

On the whole, it was a thriving era, and Germany was full of vitality. Strive to surpass Britain and France in all aspects to become the strongest country in Europe and become the driving force for social consensus. But he was disgusted by the aggressive militarism and nationalism on the social level. With relatives scattered in Belgium, Spain and Argentina in South America, he prefers to be a "world citizen". As Jews, knowing that they are second-class citizens of Germany, they are discriminated against either openly or covertly, but they can never find another country that can rise through their own efforts like Germany.

Einstein's father and his uncle once co-founded an electrical company. at first, business was particularly good, and Einstein lived in a favorable environment when he was young. In the summer of 1894, because of business failure, Einstein's parents moved from Munich, Germany to Milan in northern Italy, looking for new business opportunities, leaving Einstein, who had not yet graduated from high school, alone in Munich. Dissatisfied with the militarism and anti-Semitism of the school, at the end of the year, without his parents' knowledge, he gave up his studies and came to Italy to reunite with his parents. Later, after a year of tutoring, he entered the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in the fall of 1896.

In early 1896, before he reached the age of 17, "with the consent of his father, he decided to give up his W ü rttemberg citizenship". His purpose is very clear, that is, "to avoid compulsory military service in the German army after the age of 17." [1]

In 1899, Einstein began to apply for Swiss citizenship, and he finally acquired Swiss citizenship on February 21, 1901. According to his sister, he made up his mind to become a Swiss citizen because "he admires the political system of the Swiss Confederation. He chose this time to solve the problem, perhaps for more practical reasons: he is about to graduate, and his Swiss citizenship will enable him to get a position in the civil service, including teaching." [2]

Before obtaining Swiss citizenship, he was stateless for more than five years.

In 1905, Einstein, who worked in the Swiss Federal Patent Office, published five papers that changed the face of physics, changing people's views on time, space, mass, energy and molecules. After that, he published many high-quality papers one after another, which has more and more influence in the academic circle.

In 1913, Planck and Nernst, the leading figures in German physics, went south to offer generous terms to persuade Einstein to go north. As a first step, they nominated Einstein as a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. Although it is "unusual" to recommend Einstein, who is only 34, as an official member of the Academy of Sciences, they are convinced that Berlin, then the scientific center of the world, it would be inconceivable without what Planck later called "contemporary Copernicus". "We believe that the whole physics community will regard Einstein's admission to the Berlin Academy of Sciences as a particularly valuable gain." [3]

On November 12, 1913, King William II of Germany issued a Supreme order approving the proposal. On November 22, the Academy of Sciences told Einstein the news and "asked my husband to declare now whether he would accept the election." If you move to Berlin, the Minister of Religion and Education has announced that he is prepared to reimburse your relocation expenses according to the actual expenses. In addition to your fixed annual salary of 900Mark, the Academy of Sciences has also approved a special individual annual salary of 12000 marks. The two salaries will be paid from the first month of your arrival in Berlin. " [4]

In fact, long before Einstein agreed, the powerful Nernst had already received a sum of money from Jewish banker Leopold Koppel,1854-1933 to provide Einstein with the necessary extra salary through a personal relationship with the German emperor William II. [5]

In addition to recommending Einstein as an official member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, they also promised Einstein to be a professor of physics at the University of Berlin, with the right to teach, but not the obligation to teach; in addition, a special institute of physics will be set up under the Emperor William Society, with Einstein as director. Planck and others are well-intentioned in order to attract Einstein. According to the relevant German law, these positions belong to civil servants, and the incumbent needs to have Prussian (German) status. It is said that before Einstein agreed, his good friend Hubble (1868-1934), who was also a Jew, told him this. But neither Einstein nor the Prussian Academy of Sciences seems to emphasize this point too much. Einstein's only condition for accepting these positions was to retain his Swiss nationality. The Academy of Sciences did not conduct a precise review of the legal situation and did not even indicate it in the archives. Einstein's appointment was not hampered by Swiss citizenship. At this moment, the national interest is more important than the trivial issue of Einstein's nationality. The Prussian Academy of Sciences was eager to dig up Einstein and did not regard Prussian citizenship as a necessary condition.

During and after World War I, Einstein traveled on a Swiss passport. [6] No one cares whether Einstein has German nationality. In several ways, Einstein, as a Jew with a Swiss passport, worked at the Prussian Academy of Sciences, which was beneficial to both sides. On the one hand, "among so many important issues in modern physics, there is hardly a point that Einstein did not put forward his point of view in an eye-catching way." [7] the Prussian Academy of Sciences considered it a great honor to be able to recruit Einstein. In addition, after arriving in Berlin, Einstein's political passion was aroused and often expressed some views that were different from the mainstream views. Since it is generally believed that Einstein is a foreigner, the Academy of Sciences does not have to bear the corresponding responsibility. On the other hand, as a man from a neutral country, Einstein could travel to neutral foreign countries during the war and did not have to worry about military service like his German colleagues of the same age.

The best proof of Einstein's identity as a foreigner is the Berlin police station. As late as December 15, 1926, the Berlin Police Department also requested the Ministry of Culture to provide information on whether Einstein "obtained Prussian citizenship by appointment in accordance with article 14 of the Empire and Citizenship Act of 22 July 1913". Because in their view, Einstein has always been registered as a Swiss citizen.

Despite memory biases, it is safe to say that before Einstein won the Nobel Prize, both the Prussian authorities and the Academy of Sciences recognized the fact that Einstein was Swiss and was not troubled by the fact that he had been traveling on a Swiss passport.

When Einstein won the Nobel Prize, he was on his way to Japan. In principle, the minister of his country in Sweden should attend the award ceremony on December 10, 1922. The question is, who should represent Einstein? Both the German minister and the Swiss minister declared that Einstein was a native. The issue of Einstein's nationality suddenly became the focus.

In fact, the German Minister to Sweden Nadorny (Rudolf Nadolny,1873-1953) is not sure. He sent a telegram to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on November 25, 1922 asking how to deal with it. From what the Ministry of Foreign Affairs knows, Einstein is actually a Swiss citizen. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs temporarily concealed the news and did not reply to the minister in time, but asked the Ministry of Culture to give advice. The de facto head of the ministry, Dr. Hugo Andres Kr ü ss,1879-1945, was not sure at first whether Einstein was a Prussian citizen, but in his view, Einstein's scientific work was closely related to Germany, and he was regarded as German all over the world. Therefore, the German minister should represent Einstein at the Nobel Prize ceremony. [8]

Without receiving a reply from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nadorny contacted the Prussian Academy of Sciences directly. The Academy of Sciences, which had neglected the provisions of the law in the past, gave a clear answer to the German minister: "Einstein was a citizen of the German Empire." This answer is a deliberate lie because the Academy of Sciences is fully aware that Einstein is a Swiss citizen. When Nadorny informed the Swiss Minister to Sweden, the latter was very surprised by the answer. Because as far as he knew, Einstein did not give up his Swiss citizenship after he went to work in Berlin, nor did he hear that Germany had naturalized Einstein. The Swiss minister was skeptical about whether Einstein really got Prussian citizenship, but after the German minister's rude answer, he gave up his efforts to "demand" Einstein for his country.

Nadorny then informed the Nobel committee that the dispute over Einstein's nationality had been settled and that he would represent Einstein at the award ceremony and the banquet that followed, as well as a dinner hosted by his Majesty for the winners.

But it didn't end there. The day after the Nobel Prize celebration, Nadorny received a message from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Einstein did have Swiss citizenship. It embarrassed him. The problem now is to ensure that when Einstein gave a speech in Sweden in the summer of 1923, his Prussian nationality was fulfilled. To this end, on December 18, 1922, he sent a telegram to the Prussian Minister of Culture saying, "Please explain as soon as possible why the Academy of Sciences believes that Einstein has or once had German citizenship."

After careful examination and consultation with the legal adviser, the Academy of Sciences submitted a detailed and conclusive report to the Ministry of Culture on February 13, 1923.

Professor Einstein is an official member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and therefore holds the position specified in the Prussian national budget. According to the salary of a full professor in Prussian institutions of higher learning, his income belongs to the highest level.

The legal adviser to the Academy of Sciences agreed that Professor Einstein was an indirect civil servant (mittelbaren Staatsbeamten). As a result, he took the oath of office on the Imperial Constitution on July 1, 1920 and on the Prussian Constitution on March 15, 1921, in accordance with the decree of the Ministry of May 4, 1920. Judging from Professor Einstein's status as a Prussian indirect civil servant and the fact that he took the civil service oath, the Academy concluded that Mr. Einstein gained German Reich citizenship as a result, even if he did not have it at birth. Because civil servants can only be citizens of the empire (see also article 77 of the Prussian Constitution of November 1920). The Swiss nationality that Professor Einstein had previously acquired through naturalization was not affected by this, but for the Academy of Sciences, Professor Einstein was a citizen of the German Empire anyway.

A copy of the letter signed by the four permanent secretaries of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, including Planck, has been sent to the German legation in Stockholm.

After layers of reports, the report, drafted by the Academy of Sciences, set the tone for Einstein's German nationality and was submitted to the Swiss Minister in Berlin by diplomatic note on April 9, 1923.

Contrary to the imagination of the Prussian Academy of Sciences and the German government, Einstein did not recognize the German nationality imposed on him. He defended himself like this: "when I began to consider my appointment by the Academy of Sciences in 1913, my colleague Harper drew my attention to the possibility that my appointment would make me a Prussian citizen. Since I attach great importance to the fact that my Swiss nationality cannot be changed, my final acceptance of these appointments depends on whether this condition is met. At that time, this condition was met. I'm sure the Ministry's files can prove it. Besides, I know that my colleagues Harper and Nernst know about it. " [9] however, when looking for evidence of this commitment in 1913 in the archives, nothing was found.

Einstein was disgusted with the imposition of German nationality on him. When he returned to Berlin from his trip to the far East, he hoped that Nobel certificates and medals would be sent to him through the Swiss diplomatic representative office. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, the Swedish Minister to Germany, at the request of the Nobel Prize Foundation, presented the medal and the award certificate to Einstein in mid-late May 1923.

During a discussion at the Prussian Ministry of Culture on June 19, 1923, Einstein did not refute the ministry's legal advice, but demanded that "if possible, his Prussian citizenship should not be known to the outside world." Einstein wanted to hide his Prussian nationality, while the Academy of Sciences and Imperial authorities wanted to hide his Swiss nationality.

The fact that Einstein continued to travel on his Swiss passport showed that he did not agree with the Academy of Sciences and the Imperial authorities from the bottom of his heart.

It was not until February 7, 1924 that Einstein was ready to publicly admit that he had acquired Prussian citizenship in addition to Swiss citizenship [11].

But the facts are not completely over.

Fourth, Einstein's dual nationality, which seems convenient, actually buries a lot of hidden dangers. In 1924, he was given the opportunity to visit South America. Although it is possible to travel abroad with an ordinary passport, it is particularly troublesome and there are many restrictions on customs clearance on the return journey. Coupled with his membership on the Intelligence Committee of the League of Nations, he took it for granted that he could apply for a diplomatic passport. Because he had always regarded himself as a Swiss at heart, he first applied for a diplomatic passport from the Swiss legation in Germany, but was unexpectedly rejected. The reason is that "it is not customary to issue such passports". In the face of its strong neighbors to the north, Switzerland does not want to get into trouble. To them, Einstein was first of all a German, and he should first turn to the German authorities for help. This is tantamount to rejecting Einstein. The aggrieved Einstein went to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 21, 1925 and asked for a diplomatic passport on the grounds that he was a member of the intellectual Cooperation Committee of the League of Nations and had to go abroad frequently to participate in corresponding activities.

Deputy Foreign Minister Friedrich Heilbron (1872-1954) thought it was an excellent opportunity to lend a helping hand when Einstein needed it most, allowing him to better promote Germany abroad and win honor for Germany. For the arrogant Einstein, he can solve the urgent needs, regardless of the possible adverse consequences.

Finally, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Einstein a diplomatic passport issued by Foreign Minister Gustav Ernst Stresemann,1878-1929 by unconventional means. With this newly released diplomatic passport, on March 5, 1925, Einstein took the steamship "Cap Polonia" to Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. [12]

Although Einstein's pacifism was opposed by some local German expatriates, his trip to South America was highly received by German embassies and consulates there. According to what he said in his travel diary, "I am a smelly flower to them, but they still put me in their buttonhole." [13]

Einstein's diary: "I am a smelly flower to them, but they still put me in their buttonhole."

The German Consulate spoke highly of Einstein's trip to South America. In terms of cultural influence, Germany has been lagging far behind its old rival France in South America. Before Einstein's visit, there was no way for Germany to reverse its decline. But "now, when a German scholar comes here for the first time, his name is world-famous, and his naive, kind and perhaps somewhat unworldly attitude is particularly attractive to the locals. People can never find a better person than him to fight back against the enemy's false propaganda and destroy German barbaric fairy tales. "" Professor Einstein's visit promoted interest in our culture, followed by German prestige, which was more successful than any other scholar. " [14]

Einstein never dreamed that he would become a tool for German diplomatic propaganda, especially for anti-French cultural policy. Holding a German diplomatic passport, he will naturally get some convenience in customs clearance, but he cannot refuse some activities that he hates very much from the bottom of his heart. He admitted in his diary that "spending all day with people he didn't know began to make him feel uncomfortable." His more than two-month trip to South America was academically fruitless, and he returned to Berlin with a tired body.

Einstein made an important contribution to the restoration of international ties in the German Empire. As Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926 and the German scientific community returned to the international scientific family, the German authorities found that the marginal effect of Einstein's external propaganda was getting smaller and smaller. In later diplomatic reports, there were many snub and sarcastic words. Take Einstein's visit to Vienna on March 14, 1931, his 52nd birthday. The report of German Minister to Austria Claudius (Carl August Clodius,1897-1952) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fully reflected the situation in Germany at that time. People want to deal with Einstein as little as possible, "because he is Jewish and is considered to be on the political left." In the past, heads of state, presidents and ministers sat in the front row when welcoming Einstein, but now people prefer to stay away from him. "neither the Minister of Education nor the presidents of universities attended Einstein's lectures. Professor Einstein was also not received or invited by any Austrian official institution, although this was the first time he had returned to Vienna in nine years." [15]

His pacifist remarks were suspected by the Imperial Ministry of the Interior, the Imperial Public order Supervision Committee and the political police. The Berlin Police Department set up a secret file for him. His activities were monitored. Einstein's brief "honeymoon" with the authorities was over, and he fulfilled his mission and was no longer politically useful. Not only that, he also became very troublesome.

Siegfried Grundmann,1938-2021, a former East German scholar who specializes in Einstein's political activities in Berlin, once compared Einstein's application for a diplomatic passport at the German Foreign Ministry in January 1925 to "Kanosa's trip" [16].

Einstein was bitter about not seriously considering German nationality when he went to work in Berlin. In a letter to his ex-wife Mileva on July 20, 1938, he admitted: "in 1919, the Academy of Sciences urged me to accept German nationality while retaining my Swiss citizenship. I foolishly succumbed. [17]

Hitler came to power in January 1933, when Einstein was on his third trip to California. On March 10, he publicly announced that he would not return to Germany. When he returned to Europe, he announced that he would never set foot on German territory again and would resign from the Prussian Academy of Sciences.

In Ostend, Belgium, where they temporarily lived after returning to Europe, the Einstein couple wrote to the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asking for their German nationality to be renounced. This made the hardline Nazis of the German Interior Ministry very unhappy, who believed that Einstein should be deported because he had made false remarks about the Nazi regime abroad. On May 10, 1933, the Gestapo informed the Einstein couple that their financial assets in Germany had been confiscated. Shortly after that, Einstein's summer cabin in Caput and his dear sailboat were also confiscated. Fortunately, Einstein's stepdaughter Margot smuggled several boxes of Einstein's manuscripts from Berlin to Paris through French diplomatic channels before the Nazis took action, otherwise our current "Einstein study" would have been greatly reduced in the literature.

That's how history is full of weirdness. After Einstein won the Nobel Prize, the German government spared no effort to prove that Einstein had German nationality, knowing that there was a dispute over his nationality. Ten years later, although Einstein gave up his German nationality before the German authorities, they still savagely and openly deprive him of his German nationality in legal proceedings.

The question of Einstein's nationality is a regrettable story that takes place in the cultural cage of narrow nationalism, such as the plot of "the Journey of Kanosa", which is reproduced by a great scientific man like Einstein. Looking back on this past, we can realize that the spirit of scientific internationalism is noble and hard-won. Today, the relations between science and society, between scientists and countries, and between countries are getting closer and more complex. How to create conditions so that scientists can give full play to their creative nature and contribute to human development and world peace is a great challenge before us.

With this article, I would like to commemorate the 144th anniversary of Einstein's birth.

Note: in the course of writing this article, reference was made to the works of Siegfried Grundmann, a German expert in the history of science who died more than a year ago, on the Einstein archives (Einsteins Akte: Wissenschaft und Politik-Einsteins Berliner Zeit, Zweite Auflage, mit 70 Abbildungen und einem Anhang ü ber die FBI-Akte Einsteins, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2004). I still remember when I met Mr. Glendman almost 20 years ago under the World clock in Alexander Square in Berlin. Mr. Glendman, from the former East Germany, lost his permanent position after reunification, made a living by constantly participating in various projects, and his academic work has not been fairly evaluated. He didn't care much about this, but he was still preoccupied with academia.

Annotation

Einstein Encyclopedia, Alice Calapris, Daniel Kenenfik; by Robert Shulman, translated by Fang Zaiqing, Changsha, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2022, pp. 25-28.

[2] complete works of Einstein, Volume 1, translated by Zhao Zhongzhong, Hunan Science and Technology Publishing House, 2nd Edition 2009, p. 219.

[3] complete works of Einstein, Volume 5, translated by Fan Dainian, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2002, pp. 487-488.

[4] Ibid., p. 526.

[5] Siegfried Grundmann, Wissenschaft und Politik: Einsteins Berliner Zeit, Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 25-26 Juni 2005,20. Juni 2005, S.26.

Einstein Encyclopedia, Alice Calapris, Daniel Kenenfik; by Robert Shulman, translated by Fang Zaiqing, Changsha, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2022, pp. 25-28

[7] complete works of Einstein, Volume 5, translated by Fan Dainian, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2002, pp. 487-488.

[8] see Siegfried Grundmann, Einsteins Akte: Wissenschaft und Politik-Einsteins Berliner Zeit, Zweite Auflage, mit 70 Abbildungen und einem Anhang ü ber die FBI-Akte Einsteins, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2004.S.271-285.

[9] complete works of Einstein, Volume 13, translated by Fang Zaiqing and he Jun, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2020, p. 655.

[10] according to the Einstein itinerary provided in Volume 13 of the complete works of Einstein, the specific time should be sometime between May 17 and 22, 1923.

[11] Albert Einstein, The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: the Berlin years: Writings & correspondence, April 1923-May 1925. Volume 14) Vol.14. Princeton:Princeton University Press,2015:p. 207.

Einstein Encyclopedia, Alice Calapris, Daniel Kenenfik; by Robert Shulman, translated by Fang Zaiqing, Changsha, Hunan Science and Technology Press, 2022, pp. 145-147.

[13] Einstein's Travel Diary, South American volume, April 17, 1925. In Volume 14 of the complete works of Einstein (The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein: the Berlin years: Writings & correspondence, April 1923-May 1925. Volume 14), Documentary Edition, Princeton University Press, 2015, p. 693.

[14] Siegfried Grundmann, Wissenschaft und Politik: Einsteins Berliner Zeit, Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 25-26 Juni 2005,20. Juni 2005, S.28.

[15] in January 1077, King Henry IV of the Holy Roman Empire braved the blizzard and went to Canossa in northern Italy to "confess his sins" to Pope Gregory VII. This is seen as a symbol of the monarchy's submission to the religious power. Siegfried Grundmann, Einsteins Akte: Wissenschaft und Politik-Einsteins Berliner Zeit, Zweite Auflage, mit 70 Abbildungen und einem Anhang ü ber die FBI-Akte Einsteins, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2004. S. 267.

[16] Ibid., S. 281.

[17] Einstein file number: 75-949, quoted from The ultimate quotable Einstein, collected and edited by Alice Calaprice; with a foreword by Freeman Dyson, Princeton University Press and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2011, p. 168.

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