Sir

The News report (Nature 409, 443; 2001) on my research concerning emigrants from the Kaiser Wilhelm Society stated that the Max Planck Society has “reneged on a 1948 promise to contact Jewish scientists expelled from its laboratories during the Third Reich and offer them their jobs back”.

To the best of my knowledge no such promise was ever made and there was no general policy for the reintegration of emigrants. The activities of the Max Planck Society in 1948 were directed more towards the recruitment of foreign scientific members from a small number of renowned emigrants, a symbolic gesture intended merely to restore the organization's international contacts and reputation. To what extent personal and unofficial attempts were made to offer the jobs back is currently under investigation.