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Schrodinger had to leave all of his personal documents behind when he fled from Austria. This included his Nobel and Max Planck gold medals. They left Graz on 14 September 1938, taking the day-long train ride to Rome. At that time, it was possible to cross the border from Austria to Italy without a visa. Once the Schrodingers arrived in Rome, they headed for the Vatican, where Schrodinger had been received at the Pontifical Academy of Science.
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We didn't have the money to pay the porter in Rome. There Fermi told us : "Don't write from Rome because it is already dangerous. It might be censored."
From Vatican City, where the Papal Academy is situated, my husband wrote three letters. One was to Lindemann to tell him that we left Graz. One to our friends in Zurich to get us some money, because we had to borrow money from Fermi. The third one to de Valera, who was the President of the League of Nations at that time. That was a Saturday when we posted the letters in Vatican City.
On Monday morning we went again to the Academy. After half an hour's time, came a servant who told us that his excellency was wanted at the telephone. The Irish envoy was at telephone and he said de Valera rang up this morning from Geneva. He told him to do everything for us to bring us as soon as possible into Geneva. We should be at the legation in the afternoon and there de Valera would phone.
So, we were there. This was the first time my husband heard de Valera speaking. He said that he was glad that we were out of Austria. He also said that we should come to Geneva to discuss a few things. But as soon as possible, we should go to England or Ireland, because there was such a great danger of war in 1938. The Munich Conference, you know.
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The Munich conference was going to be held at the end of September 1938. It involved the leaders of Britain and France, meeting with Hitler and Mussolini. The question was the transfer of the German-speaking Sudeten part of Czechoslovakia to Germany. After much discussion, the transfer was agreed with an international commission to consider the future of other disputed areas. On his return, the British PM Chamberlain famously announced, "Peace for our time." Lord Halifax, who did not go with Chamberlain to Germany, informed the House of Lords that the agreement made was a "lesser of two evils".
Anny continued the description of their movements
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So de Valera tried to get everything ready for us. We couldn't take any money out of Italy, but he gave us a pound each and gave us first class tickets and off we went. I was quite happy already. I felt already safe, but my husband didn't feel safe at all.
In Domodossola they looked at our passports and the luggage. They hardly looked at the luggage at all, but the passports were all right. Then, before we came to Iselle, a carabinieri came into our compartment. He had a piece of paper with our name written on it and we had to leave the compartment with all our luggage. They had looked at our passports. We already had visas for all of Europe because de Valera had said that if we can't go through France, we must go through Spain or Portugal or something.
Then, we were asked if we had some money. We said that we had one pound. They thought that we had to smuggle something, because one can't go through Europe on one pound.
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Finally, after another 24-hour train trip, they arrived in Geneva. Schrodinger met with de Valera. Then, they stayed for three days in his hotel and then rode on.
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There was a blackout in Switzerland. On the other side of the Rhine, one could see the bright lights of Germany.
Trains were overflowing and greatly delayed. In France we passed airports with countless airplanes standing ready. All bridges and tunnels were under military guard.
In England in Hyde Park, bomb shelters were being feverishly prepared. Anti-aircraft guns pointed to the sky. Everyone had gas masks. In Paddington, we heard reports about the Four Power Conference in Munich. That day, 80,000 children were evacuated.
On the 28 September 1938, we reached Oxford.
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It was becoming clear that, due to his letter seemingly supporting the Fuhrer, Schrodinger was not nearly as welcome in Oxford as he had been. The Schrodingers were fortunate to be able to stay in the spacious house of J.H.C Whitehead. Whitehead and Schrodinger had run their joint seminar in Oxford some three years before and had become good friends.
Following his flight from Austria and Italy, Schrodinger had no personal resources except his Nobel moeny in Sweden. That was not even readily available. With just the small grant from Magdalen to live on in Oxford, the Schrodingers were living almost hand to mouth. However, de Valera remained very enthusiastic and provided funds for Schrodinger to travel to Dublin to meet him.
There, De Valera explained that it would take about a year to get the legislation passed through the Irish Parliament to set up the Institute for Advanced Studies. De Valera also had an interest in Celtic Studies. He constructed an Act to "make provision for the establishment and maintenance in Dublin of an Institute for Advanced Studies, consisting a School of Celtic Studies and a School of Theoretical Physics". The strange mix of Celtic Studies and Theoretical Physics was to produce some criticism from the opposition members in the Irish Parliament that would delay the passing of the Act.
== Wave Mechanics ==
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