Professor Albert Einstein, now on his way to California, may not return to Germany but may take up his residence in some other country, in the event that the Hitlerites obtain control of Germany, it is reported here in circles cognizant of Dr. Einstein’s plans.
Replying to an inquiry from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Dr. Boris Brutzkus, a leader of the World Ort, close friend of Dr. Einstein and the man who brought the great savant to London recently for the Ort-Ozet dinner, said that the report may be true since Dr. Einstein told him that he would prefer to settle in some quiet resort in southern France where he could carry on his work quietly if the Hitlerites ever gain the upper hand in Germany. such circumstances make any decisions in advance or even make public such decisions.”
SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING CHANGE
Although Professor Einstein was very careful in wording his statement, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s correspondent has good reason to believe that despite this formal and discreet reply, the father of the Theory of Relativity is seriously considering a change in his permanent place of residence from Germany to some still unselected haven where his researches could be carried on undisturbed by any possible political upheaval.
Professor Einstein’s guarded intimation that he would not return to Germany in the event of a Hitler coup d’etat is based on his apparent unwillingness to live in a Germany ruled by the Hitlerites. The distinguished savant has not only been subject to frequent attacks by the anti-Semitic press but has been faced with a demand to deport him and an attempt to assassinate him in his own home.
WOMAN SOUGHT TO KILL HIM
In January, 1925, a woman invaded his residence with the intention of killing him, but the resourcefulness of Mrs. Einstein prevented the would-be assassination. Der Hammer, an anti-Semitic paper published in Leipzig, demanded Professor Einstein’s deportation in 1927. “The ‘Polish’ Jew ought to be deported from where he came,” the paper said.
From time to time Dr. Einstein’s scientific work has been attacked not on the basis of science but in a spirit of prejudice. On the eve of his departure for America in November the anti-Semitic press launched a campaign of ridicule against him, Prof. Johann Stark, Hitlerite theoretician, terming the Theory of Relativity unproductive and complaining aaginst appraising Einstein above Newton and Kant.
Aware of the prejudice against him, Dr. Einstein jocularly remarked in 1929 when the Sorbonne conferred an honorary degree on him that if his Theory of Relativity “is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German, and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.”
After his recent radio speech from London, the Austrian Radio Corporation apologized for re-broadcasting it, saying that it was unaware that Professor Einstein was to deliver propaganda for the Jews. The apology followed a vigorous attack upon the corporation by the anti-Semtic press.
Ten years ago Dr. Einstein was offered a professorship at Columbia University but he rejected it because he said his country needed him. In 1925 he was again offered a professorship at an American university, this time at the California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, whither he is now bound, but he declined this offer too.
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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.
