How Albert Einstein became a devotee of the Zionist movement is described by the eminent scientist in a letter he addressed to M. M. Ussishkin, head of the Jewish National Fund, here.
Replying to Ussishkin’s message of congratulation on the occasion of Prof. Einstein’s fiftieth birthday, the author of the relativity theory relates that until the age of thirty-five he did not feel himself a Jew. Having been married to a Christian woman, he lived in a Christian atmosphere. He began to feel a son of the Jewish people, he declared, after settling in Berlin. Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, and Kurt Blumenfeld, leader of the German Zionists, greatly aided in his change of mind.
Einstein further declares modestly that he has achieved nothing for the cause of Palestine, but will adhere to it as long as he lives. He authorizes the leaders of the Zionist movement to utilize whatever influence is his for the cause, he writes.
In 1903, while in Switzerland, Albert Einstein married a South-Slavic student girl of the Catholic faith. He was then twenty-four years old. After a number of years this marriage was dissolved. The present Mrs. Einstein is a cousin of the scientist. She was Elsa Einstein, the daughter of Engineer Einstein, who was a teacher of Professor Albert Einstein in his early years.
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.
