Albert Einstein letter
Extent and Medium
folder
1
Creator(s)
- Albert Einstein
Biographical History
Albert Einstein (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-Jewish theoretical physicist. He was born in Ulm, Germany to Hermann Einstein and Pauline Koch. He was visiting the United States in 1933 when Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor of Germany. Due to the anti-Semitic rhetoric coming from the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler, Einstein decided not to return to Germany, where he had been a professor at the Berlin Academy of Sciences. He renounced his German citizenship, and became a United States citizen in 1940. Shortly after, the Nazi party confiscated his property in Germany. During World War II, Einstein supported the Allied Forces, but denounced the idea of creating and utilizing nuclear weapons. He accepted a position with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey in October 1933, where he would remain affiliated until his death in 1955.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Dr. Sidney Davidson In memory of Johanna Neumann
Funding Note: Funds for the Acquisition of this letter have been provided by a generous donation from Dr. Sidney Davidson in memory of Johanna Neumann.
Acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2017.
Scope and Content
Letter hand-written in German by Albert Einstein datelined Princeton, October 10, 1938, addressed to his friend Dr. Michele Besso in Berne, Switzerland. In the letter, Einstein describes his attempts to help European Jews by issuing affidavits, his frustration over the fact that he can no longer issue affidavits for fear of endangering ones still pending, and his helplessness to further assist the Jews. He also discusses Hitler’s political and military actions taking place in Europe.
People
- Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955.
- Besso, Michele Angelo, 1873-1955.
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
- Affidavits--United States.
- Emigration and immigration--Government policy--United States.
- Jewish refugees--United States--Correspondence.
- World War, 1939-1945--Jews--Rescue.
- Jewish refugees--Europe--History--20th century.
Genre
- Document
- Correspondence.