Previously on Genius...
STUDENT: Walther Rathenau is dead.
What sort of animals would do this?
He was coming to dinner on Sunday.
ERNST: It's only because my customers requested it.
Everyone has a choice, Ernst.
I want to leave, Albert, please.
We're not going anywhere, Elsa.
There's already much discussion
of a Nobel.
Relativity is a hoax.
It isn't grounded in any concrete discovery.
You want to pay me for a divorce?
MAGISTRATE KONIG: Mileva Maric
is to retain full custody in Zurich.
MILEVA: You idolized your father, Eduard,
but he was never there and I could see
how painful that was for you.
Tell Papa I want to see him.
WEYLAND: Albert Einstein has engaged
in a profit-grubbing promotion
as our country suffers deprivation and indignity.
Einstein obviously desires a public battle.
It's time I enlisted some public allies.
(shouting) Stay down!
Elsa, you're right; it's time.
(phone rings)
Hello.... It's the United States embassy.
GEIST: I am conducting this inquiry at the request
of Mr. J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover.
What does he want with me?
*
(clock ticking)
(bell dings quietly)
WOMAN (whispering): Osip...
Osip, go wash before your brothers wake.
MAN: Go. Go, go, go, go, go.
(footsteps quickly approaching)
Get the kid. (woman screams)
Everybody up! Against the wall!
OSIP (crying): Mama. WOMAN: What, what is this?
What have we done? Shut your mouth, kike.
OSIP: Mama!
Stop resisting!
WOMAN: Please, please.
He didn't do anything.
(crying): Please, please.
PALMER: Almost 3000 subversives taken into custody,
from 33 cities in 23 different states.
Well done, Mr. Hoover.
The majority were known anarchists, sir,
but we arrested a number of socialists as well.
We sent a strong message to these immigrants that threats
to the American way of life will not be tolerated.
Interrogations are in progress.
Deportations will begin imminently.
And these reports of abuse?
The only publications giving them any ink
are communist rags. Heh.
You got a bright future ahead of you, Edgar.
Thank you, sir.
GEIST: I'm conducting this inquiry
at the request of Mr. J. Edgar Hoover,
director of the United States Bureau of Investigation.
Hoover? Yes.
Mr. J. Edgar Hoover.
What does he want with me?
He's been quite interested in your political activities
and affiliations since your first visit to New York.
So if you do not answer my questions
to his satisfaction,
you will not be granted entry to the United States of America.
I don't have to put up with this.
ELSA: Albert, sit down.
No. I will not.
The land of the free,
isn't that what you call it?
I've devoted my life to freedom of thought,
to peace for all peoples.
And your American director of espionage
is concerned about my affiliations?
I meant no offense. I'm not here to accuse you
of anything, sir, I'm merely here
to ask questions. Really?
Or are you desperate for the next rung on the ladder?
Albert, please. Flattered to be asked
to interrogate the famous Dr. Albert Einstein
with visions of promotion in your head?
Albert!
Please excuse my husband's outburst, Mr. Geist.
Uh, let's return to the subject
of your former wife, Mileva Maric.
When did you last speak?
Thursday, I think.
And what did you discuss?
We discussed our son, Eduard.
He's not been well.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Are you acquainted
with Miss Maric's brother?
(scoffs) I met him 20 years ago.
I've not seen him since.
Are you aware he now resides
in the Soviet Union?
(chuckles) She might have mentioned it.
And to your knowledge, has she ever visited him there?
She has not... to my knowledge.
Let's move on, shall we?
How did you come to know Chaim Weizmann?
Oh, I see.
This is a one-way street
we are driving down, is it?
The Weizmanns are old friends of ours.
Excuse me, Mrs. Einstein.
The question was for your husband.
How did you come to know Chaim Weizmann?
EINSTEIN: It's all right, Chaim,
you can admit you don't understand.
WEIZMANN: Albert, you have been explaining general relativity
for more than three hours, and I am fully convinced
that you understand it. (Einstein chuckles)
(sighs) I anticipated
that many would struggle to comprehend my theory,
but I must admit, I've been a little taken aback
by the jeers and the snubs,
particularly from the Nobel committee.
There will always be resistance to revolutionary ideas.
But we've proved it with mathematics, with astronomy.
WEIZMANN: Some people see a beautiful proof,
others a damning repudiation.
That's why certain scientists loathe you,
while the rest of the world has fallen hopelessly in love.
It's unpleasant sensation to be beloved,
not for your ideas,
but for the image people have of you.
Of course, your fame also affords us an opportunity.
Chaim, if this is an attempt to recruit me
to the Zionist cause, you should save your breath.
Albert... No.
We have just barely made it through
the death and destruction of the war.
You cannot ask me to support the creation of a new nation
that will inevitably bring us to war again.
The world's Jews are in desperate need of a refuge.
But is Palestine the answer?
It is not uninhabited land.
You should visit with me someday.
You'll find our Arab friends living in harmony
with our Jewish brothers and sisters.
The Arab people will rise up to resist
such in influx of newcomers.
It's not a matter of "if", but "when."
Will you join me upstairs?
There's something I'd like to show you.
WEIZMANN: Kill the Jews.
That was their battle cry... 1903.
The day after the Russian Orthodox Easter.
They celebrated resurrection
then brutally murdered hundreds of our people.
This was but one of many pogroms.
Ukraine, Poland,
even Argentina.
Babies ripped from mothers' arms.
Slaughtered.
My God.
So, of course, they fled.
As our ancestors did from Egypt.
To Berlin, to London, to Chicago,
Minneapolis, New York.
And what did they find when they arrived?
Squalor, pestilence.
Blamed for the ills of the nations
in which they sought refuge.
Last year, the attorney general of the United States
ordered raids that rounded up thousands of Jews,
accusing them of anarchism and radicalism.
An excuse to deport them.
When I tell you that
our people are desperate for a home, it is not harsh words
from jealous colleagues they are fleeing.
Nor a snub from the Nobel committee.
It is endless death and destruction.
There are dozens of nations hospitable to Arabs.
But our tribesmen?
They have nowhere to go.
I sail for the United States next week
to raise money for a Hebrew university in Palestine.
Come with me.
ELSA: I should never have let you go to dinner with Chaim.
I knew this would happen.
You are providing ammunition to those fools who believe
that Jews cannot be good Germans.
I've never aspired to be a good German.
Well, this does not concern only you.
No, it doesn't.
It concerns legions of our people who are suffering.
And you're going to rescue them all with Chaim's university,
are you? Elsa, I know you are not this cold-hearted.
And what about Brussels, the Solvay Conference?
You're the only German scientist invited,
and you're simply going to cancel? Four years of carnage.
Now I should be the one who is supposed to heal
all the wounds of the war?
And Eduard,
you're going to miss his piano recital.
I'll take him sailing this summer.
He'll understand.
To you, this is a chance to do good.
To the rest of the world, it is-- it's a famous man
putting his race above his country.
And your enemies will use it against you.
How the world sees me, it's not important to me.
I wonder if you'll feel the same way
should the world turn against you.
("The Stars and Stripes Forever" begins)
(reporters clamoring)
REPORTER 2: Dr. Einstein, how long will you stay...
(clamoring continues)
REPORTER 3: Sir! REPORTER 4: Professor!
He can't answer if he can't hear!
Uh, you, sir.
Professor Einstein, can you explain the theory of relativity
in one sentence?
All of my life I've tried to put it into one book
and this fellow wants it in a single sentence.
(laughter)
(reporters clamoring)
You, there. Will you be giving any lectures
while you're here? EINSTEIN: Yes.
We have many scheduled, but I am here primarily
to support a Jewish university... Dr. Einstein
will lecture at Princeton,
and then visit Harvard.
REPORTER 5: Do you believe Zionism does more
harm than good?
No. That is foolish thinking.
Well, then what do you say to those who believe
Jews should assimilate into American society?
I say it is a Jewish weakness,
trying always to keep the gentiles in good humor.
(laughter) Dr. Einstein is here to raise funds
for a university.
Education is a boon to all.
Thank you very much.
(upbeat march playing, overlapping chatter)
EINSTEIN: I don't appreciate
anyone doing my talking for me!
Tell her, Chaim. You brought me here to speak out,
not to trot in front of the press like some circus animal.
Chaim brought you here to advance the cause.
Insulting American Jews is not an effective approach.
Elsa's right.
As I told you, most of them are assimilationists,
especially the wealthy ones.
So we shouldn't attempt to change their minds?
By calling them weak? I was asked the question!
And I told you how to answer it.
"Education is a boon to all"
is not an answer.
You and I are in agreement, Albert.
We should not have to give up any part of ourselves
in order to be treated as equals.
But we need their money.
I took the liberty of writing some remarks
for you for tomorrow.
SVANTE: Tell me, Dr. Lenard,
why should we deny Einstein the Nobel this year?
My case remains the same.
Theoretical physics is the purview of con artists.
They are like... Cubist painters... (laughs)
...unable to render form decently,
convincing the world their scrawlings are high art.
I quite like the little Spanish chap.
(laughs)
There is no science
but that which can be explored experimentally.
Albert Einstein, unpalatable to you though he may be, Philipp,
is the most famous scientist in the world.
To deny him the Nobel again-- well,
some might say we are beginning to look like fools.
(scoffs)
(crowd cheering)
Thank you very much.
EINSTEIN: Thank you. Thank you so much.
WOMAN: God bless you, Einstein.
Thank you very much.
BOY: Dr. Einstein!
EINSTEIN: Thank you.
Dr. Einstein! Dr. Einstein!
Hey, kid! Where do you think you're going?
Dr. Einstein!
Where the hell do you think you're going, huh?
Dr. Einstein! You bastard!
Please, sir, let him go.
Are you all right, young man?
To build a home for the Jews.
I cannot take it.
They took my father away. They said he was dangerous.
Please.
I want him to have home.
What is your name?
Osip.
Thank you, Osip.
I promise I'll make good use of it.
(applause)
EINSTEIN: Thank you for coming.
As a young Jewish man
with dreams of discovering the mysteries of the universe...
...I was lucky
to have many inspiring professors.
Well, the truth is,
most of my professors thought I would not grow up
to accomplish much of anything.
(audience laughs)
I have not been the best of Jews.
Before today, I had not set foot in a synagogue in years.
But now, I've come to believe
a university that celebrates our heritage
is essential to the future of our youth.
Today, I am here with you to celebrate our Jewish heritage
as special and of value.
Unique.
(audience murmurs)
Some people think it is dangerous,
defining ourselves as different.
Blend in, they say. Do not stand out.
Do not ask questions of authority.
To me, they sound suspiciously like my stuffy old professors.
(audience laughs)
We deserve to be accepted.
Our heritage, our faith,
our traditions and history.
Why must we assimilate?
There is no justice in that.
Only loss.
Our people
have sacrificed enough.
(coins dropping)
(applause fades)
GEIST: So the trip wasn't a success?
People were not as generous as we had hoped.
EINSTEIN: That's not true, Elsa.
There was that little boy, Osip, who gave me a nickel.
And the poor woman in the Bronx
who dropped her wedding ring in the donation box.
Who knows?
Maybe one day, we'll bump into her again
and we can buy her a new one.
ELSA: My husband's optimism is one of his
most admirable qualities.
Right, then.
Um...
were you aware of any persons at these rallies
who held subversive beliefs?
EINSTEIN: Well, I was there.
ELSA: Oh, Albert. And what subversive beliefs
do you hold, Dr. Einstein?
Well, they're mostly established facts now.
Things like the existence of molecules,
the notion that gravity bends light,
tiny... Sir,
I was referring to your political beliefs,
not your scientific ideas.
But I think you knew that.
You do?
Because you chose two words
which can mean many things.
Communists, socialists, anarchists.
Were you aware of their presence at...
I didn't take a survey at the door.
If you're going to accuse me of something,
Mr. Geist, please, let's get to the point.
Very well.
Dr. Einstein, the United States government
has reason to believe that you are
a member of the Communist Party.
Oh.
GEIST: "Albert Einstein advises, advocates,
"or teaches individual resistance
"to all accepted authorities--
"whether it be a question of peace or war,
"government or religion,
mathematics or anthrology..."
She must have meant anthropology.
ELSA: May I see that,
please?
The Women's Patriot Corporation.
You mean to tell me that we are being interrogated
because a gaggle of honking geese wrote a letter?
The Women's Patriot Corporation...
EINSTEIN: Frothingham?
Frothingham, that can't possibly be a person's name.
Mrs. Frothingham and her compatriots
are concerned American citizens.
Director Hoover feels their findings
are worthy of being taken seriously.
Well, these geese are right about one thing:
I do have a contempt for authority.
Oh, it's true.
The surest way to get my husband to do what you want is to
tell him not to. Dr. Einstein...
EINSTEIN: Mrs. Frothingham
suggests here that relativity is of no more practical importance
than the number of angels
dancing on the head of a pin.
How many angels do you,
or Mrs. Frothingham,
imagine could fit
on the head of a pin... (laughs)
...and still have room to dance?
I suggest you treat me
and these proceedings with some respect.
You're not making it
easy for me.
Well, let's get back to the matter at hand, shall we?
Are you in fact a member of the Communist Party?
(laughs)
Well, Mr. Geist,
despite my deepest sympathy for certain socialist ideals...
Such as?
EINSTEIN: Economic fairness,
the belief that it is our duty as humans
to contribute to our communities.
But the notion that I should join the Communist Party--
a commitment that would require I surrender my autonomy
to the authority of the state--
that, good sir, is a nonsense.
A monkey in a hat riding a dog to a donut factory.
(Elsa laughs)
Well, I'm concerned that neither of you are...
appreciating the gravity of this situation.
I dare say I know a bit more about gravity
than you, Mr. Geist,
and a few other things besides.
How long have you lived in Berlin?
A little over two years.
What do you think about Mr. Hitler?
Oh, he's unpleasant.
But in the grand scheme of things,
he seems little more than a nuisance.
EINSTEIN: I don't understand you, Mr. Geist.
Hitler rejects economic rule
and talks of expanding German territory.
He advocates for eugenics.
Who are the impure ones he speaks of, do you think?
I would like to leave Germany of my own accord
and save him the trouble of violently exiling me.
Or worse.
Do you really think the German people would stand for that?
The government deporting the world's most famous scientist?
Jewish scientist. I'm a Jew.
Zionism, communism...
these are not the threats
that should be concerning you, Mr. Geist.
It's fascism that should have you trembling.
Dr. Einstein, we're getting off...
EINSTEIN: Tell me,
have you heard of Walther Rathenau?
RATHENAU: You know, it's five years
since I've looked at this.
(sighs): And I...
I hardly remember writing it.
"That which produces harmony in the chorus of the universe
can seem a discord to our partial hearing."
These words, they're beautiful.
Thank you.
So, how can you write about freedom for the human spirit,
and yet still be opposed to Zionism?
(sighs) If I wanted to hear someone call me
a traitor to the Jews,
I would have invited your friend, Weizmann.
EINSTEIN: I still don't understand why
you won't speak out for us.
Even if I agreed with your cause,
Albert,
do you really think
that my speaking out would make it any better?
EINSTEIN: You are the most powerful Jew
in Germany; your voice would make a difference.
The Gentiles respect you.
Yeah, and how long
do you think that respect will last
if I put my religion above my nation?
Oh... Already, the radicals
are blaming me
for Germany's paying war reparations.
I am foreign minister
in a difficult time.
Thank you for this.
Are you still coming for dinner on Sunday?
If Elsa is making the roast.
She will.
You'll never be one of them.
EINSTEIN: Walther was a German patriot.
Still, they slaughtered him like an animal.
Minister Rathenau was assassinated a decade ago.
Yes, it has been ten years.
And since then, your stock market has crashed,
people are out of work,
starving.
Hitler promises jobs, bread, pride to desperate people.
Why is it so hard to believe they might follow him?
Mrs. Einstein, would you please excuse us?
No, I think not.
My wife and I have no secrets.
Well, I'm afraid I cannot continue the interview
with Mrs. Einstein in the room.
Why don't you go home
and finish the packing.
(door closes)
Please...
tell me about Betty Neumann.
She worked for me. She no longer does.
Mm.
I have a very efficient woman handling my affairs now.
Miss Dukas.
Perhaps not as attractive
as Miss Neumann,
but I need a good secretary... Secretary?
Was that the full extent of your relationship with Miss Neumann?
You mean was I intimate with her?
Sexually?
I was. But what does that got to do with anything?
Men who have been indiscrete are vulnerable to blackmail.
A communist operative could pressure you...
No one is going to pressure me about Betty.
You better start walking.
Are you throwing me out?
The opera?
You've been looking forward to it all week.
You'll miss the curtain.
I'm only going if I can wear a disguise.
Don't be ridiculous. I have to.
Because I'm either Dr. Albert Einstein,
or I'm that dirty Jew who broke physics.
I've been those things for so long,
I'm beginning to forget who I started out to be.
Have you seen this?
Lenard's latest, condemning general relativity
as wild speculation,
propped up by the Jewish press,
signed by 19 physicists.
Good ones?
No. Well, then...
My dear, I thought you
would have gone on to the opera without me.
Sit.
I'm sorry. I was delayed.
I should have called.
Or asked Betty to do so.
Maybe she was otherwise engaged.
Between your thighs perhaps?
This is nothing, with Betty. A momentary escape.
Some pleasure to numb
the world's constant pull upon me.
It has nothing to do with our life.
You are a selfish man.
You have convinced yourself that your contributions to the world
absolve you from the responsibility you bear
to those you claim to love.
They do not.
I've never said that.
Your actions speak for you. You don't listen.
I do.
I don't feel safe, Albert.
And I have told you this over and over again.
And still, you fan the flames with Chaim,
insisting that we stay here.
For what, pride?
The cause is important, so is my work here.
Your sons haven't seen you in months.
Yes, well, things have been...
Things are always.
I love this life,
but I will not be treated as an afterthought in it.
So I will make a bargain with you.
You may engage in as many dalliances as you like,
but when you have made a commitment to me,
I come first.
And to prove it to me, you will take me away from here,
at least for a month or two, and soon.
This is not negotiable.
Elsa.
You made me.
I was a lump of clay,
and you shaped me.
I'm not sure I'd still be alive if you hadn't taken me in.
I should never have treated you with such disregard.
From the bottom of my heart,
I'm sorry.
EINSTEIN: Elsa knows everything,
so there's no threat of blackmail, Mr. Geist.
I see. There's so much about the world
Elsa has always understood more keenly than I.
The shifts and moods of the culture,
she sees such things the way I see calculations.
If it were me and me alone I had to worry about,
I probably would have lived a more reckless life.
I owe Elsa a great deal,
so I did as she asked.
I gave my attention to science, lectures, conferences.
I accepted the offer to go to Japan. (jazz music playing)
We sailed far from Germany.
I cannot deny the skill involved, (knock on door)
but it's a little too erratic for me,
this modern music.
Thank you.
*
Thank you.
ELSA: Albert.
They've done it.
They've given you the Nobel Prize!
So they've finally run out of excuses?
If we disembark at the next port,
we can make it to Sweden in time for the ceremony.
Ah.
Let them present the medal to an empty chair.
I know you detest the committee, but...
They refuse to acknowledge relativity.
What? But they cannot ignore me,
so I'm being given the prize
for my paper on the photoelectric effect.
Really? My dearest Elsa,
I know care not one whit about physics,
but let me remind you,
this paper would not have existed
without the work of Philipp Lenard.
(gasps): Oh, my. (laughs)
He's going to lose his mind.
Welcome to the Nazi Party, Dr. Lenard.
We are honored to have you in our ranks.
The honor is entirely mine.
EINSTEIN: I'd hoped when we returned home
that the mood would have cooled,
and I could have continued my work with Chaim,
but Elsa wouldn't have it.
So the great Albert Einstein bends to authority after all?
(chuckles)
Who knew you had a sense of humor, Mr. Geist?
If my wife had her way, we would never have returned to Germany.
And sitting here today, I rather wish we hadn't.
Why did you?
I like my study, with all my things just so.
My tobacco shop, where Ernst always has my favorite blend.
I was settled.
I'm not quite sure how all of that happened.
A settled man is never what I set out to be.
So...
your contention is that you gave up
your political activities entirely,
and devoted yourself only to your science?
Mm.
(bell jingles) Ernst, my good man.
Ah, two tins of the usual, Professor?
Indeed. And I would like you to meet my good friend
and thorn in my scientific side, Dr. Niels Bohr.
(clears throat) Hello.
An honor to meet you, sir.
Ernst, are you familiar with
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle?
(chuckles) I can't say
that I am, Professor.
Well, it states that the more accurately we measure
the velocity of a particle,
the less accurately we can measure its position in space.
So you know exactly how fast a thing is going...
Yes, but if we do, we cannot also know where that thing is.
Does that sound logical to you?
No, sir. Of course not.
And according to my esteemed colleague,
the particle does not exist at all until we observe it.
That makes absolutely no sense to me.
Exactly! (mouths)
Thank you, Ernst.
Shall we stop by your butcher's as well?
Perhaps he has an opinion on the matter.
Ha, ha, ha, very amusing.
Albert, the uncertainty principle works, it functions.
And it allows us to make use of the quantum world.
The goal of scientific pursuit should not be merely
to make use of the world around us,
it should be to understand it, fundamentally.
No matter what use it might be.
Albert, Albert, watch out! (horn honks)
Just watch where you're going, please.
Why should I? Why should either of us?
According to you, if that automobile was a particle,
but we didn't see it,
it wouldn't have been there at all.
(horn honks)
We would be perfectly safe.
Automobiles aren't subatomic particles, Albert.
EINSTEIN: Niels, it defies common sense
that the rules which govern those things we can see
do not apply to those we cannot.
I will not turn off my brain simply because
you've decided the matter is settled.
Well, if you don't start using your brain to observe what's
right in front of you, you're going to get yourself killed.
Hmm.
Did you read his speech? From Nuremburg?
Yeah, he's an egomaniacal swindler.
No one takes him seriously.
EINSTEIN: I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps we should.
Well, I didn't come here to discuss politics.
Of course not. Oh...
I've been thinking.
What if we imagined a box full of light,
and we placed a precise number of protons
inside the box.
We weigh a single one of them, and let it out.
What happens?
GEIST: Sorry. One more time.
These particles, smaller than we can see,
even with a microscope,
are measurable only as... probabilities,
where they might exist in space?
How fast they might be going?
Very good.
So it's a game of chance, then?
A mathematical guess?
According to Bohr.
But I do not believe God plays dice with the universe.
You know, in all this talk of your being a Jew,
this is the first time you've mentioned God.
That's another one of those words
that can mean many different things.
But you do believe in God? If I say no,
will it prove I'm a communist?
(chuckles softly)
What I believe...
is the universe is so extraordinary,
only God could have created it.
My job is simply to figure out how He did it.
(chuckles)
What about you, Mr. Geist?
Are you a religious man?
I was raised Methodist.
Are you still?
Well... Mother was the true believer.
(chuckles)
Every holiday, she would make extra food,
and she'd pile me and my brother into the Studebaker
with all the dishes,
and we'd drive across town to the train station.
That's where all the men who were out of work went
to get warm.
And we would serve them all plates.
I used to think we must be the richest family in town
to be able to give up so much when no one else did.
Your mother sounds like a wonderful woman.
She was.
I thought about her when you spoke about the wedding ring
dropped in your donation box.
That sounded like something she would do.
How did you end up here?
I wanted to be of service.
You are your mother's son.
She would've preferred I become a minister.
I suspect she was proud of you nonetheless.
(knock on door)
ELEANOR: Call for you, Mr. Geist.
Take a message please, Eleanor.
It's Director Hoover.
*
(chanting and marching outside)
(indistinct chanting)
(soldiers shouting in German)
HITLER: ...against the conniving,
corrupt, incompetent Jew.
EINSTEIN: Elsa.
You're right.
It's time.
Oh, well...
um...
I'll, um...
I'll call Princeton.
I'm sorry.
You have nothing to apologize for.
I knew you would make the right decision.
Why did I take so long?
(sighs) For all our travels together...
for all the places we've seen,
I've never actually lived anywhere but Germany.
And I thought I was too old for new adventures.
Oh, no.
Two spring chickens like us?
We'll be pecking at each other for years.
ELSA: We'll be all right. All of us.
Hans Albert could come with us.
Eduard...
I-I don't know.
It pains me to say it,
but I think he's in the best place for now.
Switzerland is safe.
What about Margot and Ilse?
They're determined to make their lives here.
Perhaps they will change their minds
once they see how happy a person can be in New Jersey.
It'll take us a little time
to get our affairs in order, but...
I will book a passage for after the wedding.
(kissing)
*
(laughs)
Congratulations.
ELSA: They look so happy.
Very happy.
(sighs)
Oh, dear.
What on earth is she doing here?
MILEVA: I called and called.
Why do you not answer your phone? That gives you permission
to appear at a wedding uninvited to chastise me?
Oh, for God's sake, Albert.
Your son...
(whispers): your son tried to kill himself.
He's asking for you.
DOCTOR: I've just given him an insulin treatment.
He's not likely to talk for a while.
Hello, Teddy.
I'm sorry I didn't come sooner.
I will do all that I can to help you feel well.
Then when you are feeling better...
you can come to America and live with me.
I should have been better to you, I know that now.
I am much better at theory than practice.
I do hope you know, though...
hope you've always known...
how so very loved you are.
Perhaps you didn't.
I used to play you to sleep.
Remember?
I'd like to play for you now.
May I?
*
LENARD: A healthy German spirit must deflect from itself
the foreign spirit of Judaism,
which arises as a dark power everywhere.
And which is so clearly designated
in everything that belongs to Einstein's theory.
German scientists have a duty to bring enlightenment,
to break the power of the dark spirit everywhere possible.
SECRETARY: Dr. Lenard, it's an honor.
He's expecting you, sir.
Heil, Mein Fuhrer.
Dr. Einstein.
I relayed your answers to Mr. Hoover
with the recommendation that we approve your visa.
And?
I've been ordered to deny it.
(sniffs)
Sir, I want you to know that I believe
I called you here in good faith.
And I believed that I...
that I was...
Empowered?
To be of service?
Yes.
You're a good man, Mr. Geist.
I apologize for suggesting otherwise.
I wish you the best of luck.
(door closes)
Well, do you have the visas?
You'll have to call your reporter friend.
You're going to want to read this, sir.
HOOVER: Get me Geist!
Someone called The New York Times.
Hmm.
The State Department switchboard's
been overloaded by citizens incensed that their government
is harassing the great Albert Einstein.
Hmm.
Thank you.
Congress has begun to receive calls.
Quite a few important men have egg on their faces.
Your Mr. Edgar left me little choice.
I understand. Hmm.
How far we've come.
However...
I have been instructed to issue your visa
only if you sign this.
It's a declaration that you are not a member
of the Communist Party.
EINSTEIN: Yes, I can see that.
For your safety and the safety of your family.
It's only a piece of paper.
Please.
Please accept this compromise.
(sighs)
Your nation, Mr. Geist, it's a miracle.
The beautiful myth of it.
Scrappy revolutionaries rejecting monarchy
for self-government built from shared values,
common purpose.
I can understand why a man might want to serve a nation
that tells itself a story like that.
And I also understand
how painful it can be when the myth
does not quite fit with the reality.
I cannot sign this.
*
These were not your instructions.
No.
This will cost you your job.
Probably. (caps pen)
But there are other ways to be of service.
What are you doing?
Keep your job, Mr. Geist.
But promise me
Elsa and I will not be the only Jews
you help find their way to America's shores.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH