Albert Einstein’s autographed letter from World War II auctioned off for $12,500 Thursday.
Albert Einstein continues to be a huge inspiration for those in the world of science, but he is also a symbol for Jewish people – especially as someone with a Jewish heritage in the 1930s. In 1939, when the Nazis were gradually taking hold of more and more of Europe, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to a man called Isidore Zelniker, who was a New York businessman. The contents of the letter are extraordinary, and since the news that Nate D. Sanders Auctions would be putting the letter up for sale, there has been a huge amount of interest from all over the world.
In the letter, Albert Einstein began by personally thanking Isidore Zelniker for helping Jewish people who had fled from Europe, and were now living in the United States of America as refugees. Albert Einstein then went on to argue that Jewish people should have the right to defend themselves, and wrote much on the power of resistance and how important it was to the Jewish people. He also wrote about how that power to resist had enabled the Jewish nation to survive for hundreds and thousands of years. Sadly the letter was not handwritten, but typed out by Albert Einstein on his personalized stationery. However, he did sign it himself at the bottom.
Albert Einstein knew that because of his Jewish heritage, he would be in much danger if he decided to stay in Germany, where he was born. He therefore chose in 1933 to emigrate with his wife and children to the United States of America, where he knew he would be safe.