Historical document, Einstein's letter predicted the rise of Nazism

Written in 1922, a letter from Albert Einstein addressed to his younger sister, Maja, revealed the fears of the German mathematician and physicist over the assassination of the German foreign minister. Even 10 years before the rise of the Nazi party to power, Einstein's letter already raised warnings about anti-Semitism in the country.

The historic document sold for $ 39, 350 at an auction in Jerusalem. Responsible for the sale, auction house Kedem believes Einstein was in Kiel, northern Germany, writing the letter. The physicist does not mention his location, and the document does not have the sender's address. “No one knows where I am; they believe I'm missing, ”Einstein tells his sister.

The fear of being found came after the murder of Walther Rathenau, the country's foreign minister, Jew and friend of Einstein. Fearing that the well-known Nobel Prize winner in Physics was the next target of right-wing extremists, police warned him. The physicist would then have left his residence in Berlin and settled in the port city of Kiel.

At the time, Einstein was on his way to give a series of talks across Asia. The “tour” would guarantee her absence for some time: “I'm fine, despite all the anti-Semites among my German colleagues ... Here are the economically and politically dark times coming up, so I'm glad I can stay away from it for half a year. ”, He stressed.

Part of a family of Jewish origin, the physicist was persecuted by the Nazis after the party's rise to power in 1932. When Hitler became chancellor of Germany, Einstein lectured outside Germany. Before the start of World War II, he renounced his German citizenship and settled in the United States, where he remained until the end of his life in 1955.

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