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freed.)<br />
On the other hand, he stressed in scores of letters and statements that Americans should not let the fear of communism cause them to surrender<br />
the civil liberties and freedom of thought that they cherished. There were a lot of domestic communists in England, but the people there did not get<br />
themselves whipped into a frenzy by internal security investigations, he pointed out. Americans need not either.<br />
William Frauenglass<br />
Every year, Lord & Taylor department stores gave an award that, especially in the early 1950s, might have seemed unusual. It honored<br />
independent thinking, and Einstein, fittingly, won it in 1953 for his “nonconformity” in scientific matters.<br />
Einstein took pride in that trait, which he knew had served him well over the years. “It gives me great pleasure to see the stubbornness of an<br />
incorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed,” he said in his radio talk accepting the award.<br />
Even though he was being honored for his nonconformity in the field of science, Einstein used the occasion to turn attention to the McCarthy-style<br />
investigations. For him, freedom in the realm of thought was linked to freedom in the realm of politics. “To be sure, we are concerned here with<br />
nonconformism in a remote field of endeavor,” he said, meaning physics. “No Senatorial committee has as yet felt compelled to tackle the task of<br />
combating in this field the dangers that threaten the inner security of the uncritical or intimidated citizen.” 12<br />
Listening to his talk was a Brooklyn schoolteacher, William Frauenglass, who had a month earlier been called to testify in Washington before a<br />
Senate Internal Security Subcommittee looking into communist influence in high schools. He had refused to talk, and now he wanted Einstein to say<br />
whether he had been right.<br />
Einstein crafted a reply and told Frauenglass he could make it public. “The reactionary politicians have managed to instill suspicions of all<br />
intellectual efforts,” he wrote. “They are now proceeding to suppress the freedom of teaching.” What should intellectuals do against this evil?<br />
“Frankly, I can only see the revolutionary way of non-cooperation in the sense of Gandhi’s,” Einstein declared. “Every intellectual who is called<br />
before one of the committees ought to refuse to testify.” 13<br />
Einstein’s lifelong comfort in resisting prevailing winds made him serenely stubborn during the McCarthy era. At a time when citizens were asked<br />
to name names and testify at inquiries into their loyalty and that of their colleagues, he took a simple approach. He told people not to cooperate.<br />
He felt, as he told Frauenglass, that this should be done based on the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment, rather than the<br />
“subterfuge” of invoking the Fifth Amendment’s protection against possible self-incrimination. Standing up for the First Amendment was particularly<br />
a duty of intellectuals, he said, because they had a special role in society as preservers of free thought. He was still horrified that most intellectuals<br />
in Germany had not risen in resistance when the Nazis came to power.<br />
When his letter to Frauenglass was published, there was an even greater public uproar than had been provoked by his Rosenberg appeal.<br />
Editorial writers across the nation pulled out all the stops for their denunciatory chords.<br />
The New York Times: “To employ unnatural and illegal forces of civil disobedience, as Professor Einstein advises, is in this case to attack one<br />
evil with another. The situation which Professor Einstein rebels against certainly needs correction, but the answer does not lie in defying<br />
the law.”<br />
The Washington Post: “He has put himself in the extremist category by his irresponsible suggestion. He has proved once more that genius in<br />
science is no guarantee of sagacity in political affairs.”<br />
The Philadelphia Inquirer: “It is particularly regrettable when a scholar of his attainments, full of honors, should permit himself to be used as an<br />
instrument of propaganda by the enemies of the country that has given him such a secure refuge ... Dr. Einstein has come down from the<br />
stars to dabble in ideological politics, with lamentable results.”<br />
The Chicago Daily Tribune: “It is always astonishing to find that a man of great intellectual power in some directions is a simpleton or even a<br />
jackass in others.”<br />
The Pueblo (Colorado) Star-Journal: “He, of all people, should know better. This country protected him from Hitler.” 14<br />
Ordinary citizens wrote as well. “Look in the mirror and see how disgraceful you look without a haircut like a wild man and wear a Russian wool<br />
cap like a Bolshevik,” said Sam Epkin of Cleveland. The anticommunist columnist Victor Lasky sent a handwritten screed: “Your most recent blast<br />
against the institutions of this great nation finally convinces me that, despite your great scientific knowledge, you are an idiot, a menace to this<br />
country.” And George Stringfellow of East Orange, New Jersey, noted incorrectly, “Don’t forget that you left a communist country to come here<br />
where you could have freedom. Don’t abuse that freedom sir.” 15<br />
Senator McCarthy also issued a denunciation, though it seemed slightly muted due to Einstein’s stature. “Anyone who advises Americans to<br />
keep secret information which they have about spies and saboteurs is himself an enemy of America,” he said, not quite aiming directly at Einstein<br />
or what he had written. 16<br />
This time, however, there were actually more letters in support of Einstein. Among the more amusing ripostes came from his friend Bertrand<br />
Russell. “You seem to think that one should always obey the law, however bad,” the philosopher wrote to the New York Times. “I am compelled to<br />
suppose that you condemn George Washington and hold that your country ought to return to allegiance to Her Gracious Majesty, Queen Elisabeth II.<br />
As a loyal Briton, I of course applaud this view; but I fear it may not win much support in your country.” Einstein wrote Russell a thank-you letter,<br />
lamenting, “All the intellectuals in this country, down to the youngest student, have become completely intimidated.” 17<br />
Abraham Flexner, now retired from the Institute for Advanced Studies and living on Fifth Avenue, took the opportunity to restore his relationship<br />
with Einstein. “I am grateful to you as a native American for your fine letter to Mr. Frauenglass,” he wrote. “American citizens in general will occupy a<br />
more dignified position if they absolutely refuse to say a word if questioned about their personal opinions and beliefs.” 18<br />
Among the most poignant notes was from Frauenglass’s teenage son, Richard. “In these troubled times, your statement is one that might alter<br />
the course of this nation,” he said, which had a bit of truth to it. He noted that he would cherish Einstein’s letter for the rest of his life, then added a<br />
P.S.: “My favorite subjects are your favorite too—math and physics. Now I am taking trigonometry.” 19<br />
Passive Resistance<br />
Dozens of dissenters subsequently begged Einstein to intervene on their behalf, but he declined. He had made his point and did not see the