Old Lyme, Conn., 22 July [1935]
Dear Dr. Nathan,
Your stay here yesterday was too short. Too short for me, in any case. When you come back from your trip to Europe, I’m not going to give you any peace until you spend a few days with us. It would be nice for you and you would certainly be pleased.
As concerns Hans Meyer, I shall now give you the details. He received the affidavit at Christmas and it has been tug-of-war since that time. He is running out of all possible plans of attack and cannot obtain the entry. We hear from various quarters, also from Paris, that the American consul there is acting very severely against Jews and is causing difficulties for them. A telegram arrived: lack of funds forbid the exit. To that we sent a detailed statement of our financial assets and explicitly emphasized that we are assuming the most far-reaching sponsorship of Hans Meyer and that we regard him as our own son. We also wrote to Washington and the State Department and arranged that a letter be written to Paris from there. All in vain; the consul is adamant about his refusal. Now Hans suggests that we transfer a large sum of money to him, pro forma. But that would also cause problems and perhaps the consul would no longer believe it. Isn’t it a shame and a scandal that my husband is not in a position to bring over his nephew on an affidavit and every possible guarantee? No doubt there is a malevolent attitude toward Albert personally. That man is probably not only a big anti-Semite but also pro-Nazi; one can certainly assume that. This case is so tragic because on September 30th Hans’s passport expires, and then he will no longer have any chance to come across. His mother is in complete despair about it, and he himself is also at wits end. He no longer has any income in Paris either, and his situation is consequently as unfavorable as one could imagine. Could you help? Perhaps MacDonald can be put into action?
The stocks have been weighing heavily on my mind for a long time already. I’ve been counting and counting and I just can’t come up with the amount that we should have. Do me the favor and investigate. If Cassel says he has delivered it, it should be in the safe. But as they aren’t there, I don’t know what to think. I can’t imagine at all why Cassel didn’t deliver the stocks for me. At the time, I was concerned only with my child and also
[TLS]


afterwards, when the receipt was handed to me, I couldn’t have cared less about anything. It mattered so little that I didn’t even check the calculations. Now there is something else peculiar. I never received a cent of the interest you mentioned from those stocks. I have never even heard the name of these stocks. Yesterday was the first time, when you spoke about it. I am very anxious to know how this matter will develop.
I already sent a telegram to Zurich to have the francs on deposit there converted into pounds. A letter was too insecure for me in the end. I shall be sending you a small package for Mrs. Luchaire in the next few days. Perhaps also just directly to the ship when I buy it in New York. I would be very glad if you could speak to Mrs. Luchaire. She will surely want to hear news of us.
We found Bucky looking very poorly yesterday. We are really worried about him and it looks very gloomy in this respect.—Hopefully you will let yourself have a bit of rest and leisure in Europe. I don’t have the feeling that we will be losing you, for Princeton and New York are nearly one.
My heartfelt greetings
and constant gratitude,
Yours,
	Elsa Einstein.
[Verso. Last two lines of closure handwritten.]