Terming the Nazi dismemberment of Czecho-Slovakia “a major tragedy for a Jewish community which had a noble tradition of democracy and communal service,” Prof. Albert Einstein warned tonight in a nationwide broadcast that if the aim of exterminating the Jews is achieved, “Europe will become a barren waste.”
Prof. Einstein, who is honorary chairman of the United Jewish Appeal for Refugees and Overseas Needs and himself an exile from Germany, spoke in behalf of the appeal on the Columbia Broadcasting System network from 10: 45 to 11:00 p.m. He was introduced by Rabbi Jonah B. Wise chairman of the United Jewish Appeal.
The war against the Jews in Central Europe, the scientist asserted, aims “to exterminate not only ourselves, but to destroy together with us that spirit expressed in the Bible and in Christianity which made possible the rise of civilization in Central and Northern Europe. If this aim is achieved Europe will become a barren waste. For human community life cannot long endure on a basis of crude force, brutality, terror and hate.”
Regarding Germany’s occupation of Czecho-Slovakia, Prof. Einstein said: “It is…a source of gravest concern that the ranks of the refugees are being constantly increased. The developments of the past week have added several hundred potential refugees from Czecho-Slovakia Again we are confronted with a major tragedy for a Jewish community which had a noble tradition of democracy and communal service.”
Expressing gratitude to the democracies for the “splendid way in which they have received us,” Prof. Einstein said that refugees were “in a position to repay hospitality with new economic development and the opening up of new opportunities of employment for native populations.”
Urging sacrifices by American Jews to aid their co-religionists abroad, he said: “Each of us must personally face this test, that we may stand it as well as our fathers did before. We have no other means of self-defense than our solidarity and our knowledge that the cause for which we are suffering is a momentous and sacred cause.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
