Dr. Albert Einstein has accepted an “In Absentia” degree of Doctor of Humanities from a committee which presided here recently over commencement exercises “in absentia” for a group of German Jewish students who were forced from their country before they could complete their college courses.
The exercises were sponsored by a committee of fifty college graduates and professional people in Essex County on June 14. “In Absentia” degrees were conferred upon all who would have been graduated from German schools.
Responding to the proffer of a degree, Dr. Einstein wrote in German to A. Silverstein, Chairman of the In Absentia Commencement Committee, as follows:
“I thank you and the committee “In Absentia” heartily for the expressions of recognition and sympathy which have come to me. At the same time I would like to express my happiness that through your method of handling the situation a sense of Jewish solidarity is proven, the furtherance of which in these critical times is of particular significance.
“With high respect and friendly greetings,
“Yours,
“Albert Einstein.
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.
