Dear Mrs. Velikovsky,

at his lecture in Kassel I was able to talk with Prof. Heinsohn. Noting his profound impression I asked him to come down to Frankfurt next morning for an informative meeting with Mr. Hans-Jürgen Breidenstein, the publisher.

Primarily, I have reached the firm conviction (and a brief exchange with Prof. de Grazia, when I saw him in London, has also helped me) that I must apologize to you for what you could not but understand as irreverent, possibly even disloyal actions on my part. I hope you will accept my apology after the solving of our problems has satisfied any remaining doubts as to my sincerity.

Secondly, I have agreed with Mr. Breidenstein’s request that the royalties should be settled in a first effort to come to terms. The blocked account will be dissolved; the amount of DM 28’400.- will be sent to you, and three points must be mentioned in regard to this:

(1) From Prof. Heinsohn we learned that other books (e.g. Mankind im Amnesia) than the ones already contracted for will be prepared for publication: it seems fair to agree with Mr. Breidenstein, therefore, that for the present he should forward advance royalties on the actually available books only (Oedipus, and Ages I).

(2) Velikovsky had impressed on me how much he wished all proceeds from Germany to go to a program dedicated to research on the Continent generally (a copy of his archives, e.g., was to be financed by this means), and toward sustaining efforts in a younger German generation at overcoming their recent past, based on his new insights, particularly (nothing proved to me more his deep human kindness, and his convictions; do consider this, when judging my actions). Not being able to count on your confidence, all I presently can help is to propose to return this charge (financing and commission) under the original provision that such programs should be directed by native, informed opinion only, to your own judgment.

(3) A total of DM 37 ‘345.- has been paid by the publisher directly to me, and I consider it proper to set off against this sum my 20 % (or 15 % respectively for originally “gifted” countries) from all royalties falling under my agreement with Velikovsky, covering contracts established between June 1977, and September 1979, the time Velikovsky revoked my authority. According to this accounting; (as attached) I owe you SFr. 19’ 250.- under the terms of the contracts, assuming none of the 15 % kind exist, that this amount will include my repaying expenses incurred with my activities under (2) above, and that you agree. Then would you please instruct me regarding the balance in your favor.

Thirdly, Mankind in Amnesia and other books not definitely planned yet with Umschau Verlag being now scheduled for publication (as Prof. Heinsohn informed us), I have also accepted that Mr. Breidenstein will discuss the options and his requirements regarding these new titles directly with you.

A small point that Prof. Heinsohn mentioned was your not being in favor of parting up Ages I into two volumes. This, of course, had been Velikovsky’s own original idea, not mine, and if none of the promised additional material (needed to extend each half into a seperate volume) can be realized, indeed there is no problem in re-publishing the volume in its present form. You should be ware, however, that already the original German Europa Verlag edition included “Sulman Temple” in addition to the English edition, and that “Jericho” was proposed by Velikovsky as a further section (see Jan’s letter 6-13-77). Even if only with one supplement each (and several possibilities offer themselves), Velikovsky’s intended two-volume edition would better serve the purpose of presenting his work in a still more closely knit form. We must also not forget that Europa Verlag did much damage when they sold off cheap their Zeitalter im Chaos, which can still be found “neuantiquarisch” in some shops, and that the publisher has therefore taken a special risk making the work available again; it is a further reason to follow Velikovsky’s opinion.

Fifthly, the difficult and difficile approach to Holocaust, anti-Semitism, and Nazism weighs most heavily on my mind, as long as my thoughts appear to be so far estranged from your own, though to me for no apparent reason. Indeed, I felt extremely shocked by Lynn Rose’s view, in January, that I was, in a letter to the Times, “deliberately misrepresenting” Velikovsky; and I also have here a copy of Mr. Kitov’s letter to Dr. Rix, requesting him on your behalf to communicate to me your obviously deeply felt displeasure. From all material available to me, including Velikovsky’s own opinion stated in correspondence, I cannot make out the offense I caused. Naturally I am very much willing to listen to arguments, and for the moment therefore all I can say regarding this subject is, that it should come up for discussion, so that I can learn to understand your opinion.

With sincere regards,

Marx