Забавно:

A key figure, in view of his immense scientific and moral prestige, was
Albert Einstein. If he could be persuaded to side with Hilbert the battle
would be half won. In spite of personal pressure from Born (20 November
1928) on behalf of Hilbert, Einstein remained stubbornly neutral. In his
letters to Born and to Brouwer and Blumenthal one may recognize a measure
of disgust behind a facade of raillery.
In the letter to Born (November 27) the apt characterization of “Frosch-
Mäusekrieg” (war of the frogs and the mice)¹² was introduced. After declar-
ing his strict neutrality he went on:

If Hilbert’s illness did not lend a tragic feature, this ink war
would for me be one of the most funny and succesful farces per-
formed by that people who take themselves deadly seriously.
Objectively I might briefly point out that in my opinion there
would have been more painless remedies against an overly large
influence on the managing of the Annalen by the somewhat mad
(verrückt) Brouwer, than eviction from the editorial board.
This, however, I only say to you in private and I do not intend
to plunge as a champion into this frog-mice battle with another
paper lance.

Einstein’s letter to Brouwer and Blumenthal (Nov.25) is even more cut-
ting and reproving.

I am sorry that I got into this mathematical wolf-pack (Wolfsh-
erde) like an innocent lamb. The sight of the scientific deeds of
the men under consideration here impresses me with such cun-
ning of the mind, that I cannot hope, also in this extra-scientific
matter to reach a somewhat correct judgement of them. Please,
allow me therefore, to persist in my “booh-nor-bah” (mMuh-
noch-Mäh) position and allow me to stick to my role of as-
tounded contemporary. With best wishes for an ample con-
tinuation of this equally noble and important battle, I remain
Yours truly,
A. Einstein

¹²War of the frogs and the mice — a Greek play of unknown author; a late medieval
German version, Froschmeuseler, is from the hand of Rollenhagen.