The Einstein-Freud Correspondence (1932)

Is there any way of delivering mankind from the menace of war?

Einstein in Cuba and Freud in Vienna in 1930 (Libary of Congress / Getty Images)

In 1932, physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955) took it upon himself to write an open letter to neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) to initiate a public conversation on the origins of war and peace, human nature and the role of the sciences in these matters.

At the time of the writing of the letter, public scrutiny of Jewish intellectuals in Germany and Austria was mounting. The following May, a viciously anti-Semetic illustrated brochure entitled Juden Sehen Dich An (“Jews are Watching You”) would feature Einstein in its prologue alongside some sixty other prominent (alleged and actual) Jewish intellectuals (Robinson, 2019a p. 225). Written by a close collaborator of Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, the author of the brochure would include a photograph of Einstein alongside the caption:

“Discovered a…