The letter from Albert Einstein was addressed to a Japanese audience in 1952. Titled “My Participation in the Atom Bomb Project,” it is a significant document. In it, he articulates his views on the global nuclear arms race, prompted by magazine editors’ requests for him to justify his support of the U.S. nuclear weapons program during World War II.
Though Einstein wasn’t directly involved in the atomic bomb’s creation, he famously wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in August 1939, warning that Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime could be on the verge of developing atomic weapons. This prompted Roosevelt to initiate a covert nuclear program, known as the Manhattan Project.
A lifelong pacifist, Einstein later expressed regret over his role in convincing the U.S. to create and eventually deploy the atomic bomb. Toward the end of his life, he referred to his letter to Roosevelt as his “one big mistake.”
“To kill in wartime, that seems to me no better than a common murder,” he stated in a 1952 letter.
According to Bonhams, who is auctioning the letter, it was written in response to Katsu Hara, Einstein’s long-time friend and editor of the Japanese magazine Kaizō. In the letter, he candidly wrote, “Why did you cooperate in the production of the atomic bomb? You knew its incredibly destructive power.”
This correspondence stemmed from Einstein’s concerns following the devastation wrought by the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which resulted in more than 100,000 fatalities. This tragic reality seemed to deeply unsettle him.
“If these experiments were successful, I was fully aware of the horrifying dangers posed to all humanity,” Einstein replied. However, he added, “I hadn’t seen any other way,” emphasizing his concerns about the potential for Germany to develop atomic weapons.
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In his letter, Einstein further defended “the abolition of radical wars,” calling Mahatma Gandhi “the greatest political genius of our time.” He praised Gandhi’s non-violent resistance against British colonial rule in India as a model for liberation and political action.
Hara published the letter in its original German in 1952, alongside a Japanese translation. The letter currently for auction is the first English version, translated by theoretical physicist Herbert Gehr in 1953 with Einstein’s assistance.
This document bears Einstein’s signature at the bottom and includes a pencil correction for a typographical error. It was published in the Society for Social Responsibility of Science Newsletter by editor Jehle.
The auction is set to close on June 24th, with the letter expected to fetch between $100,000 and $150,000.
Source: www.livescience.com