Crucible: The Long End of the Great War and the Birth of a New World, 1917-1924 by Charles Emmerson

Author:Charles Emmerson [Emmerson, Charles]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 21st Century, History, International & World Politics, International Relations, Military, World War I
ISBN: 9781610397827
Google: MPijswEACAAJ
Amazon: 1610397827
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 2019-10-15T03:00:00+00:00

BERLIN: In February, Einstein gets his answer from the Americans. He asked for too much money. But then, almost immediately, another opportunity arises: to go to the United States at the invitation of the Zionist organisation to raise money for a new university planned for Jerusalem. This appeals to Albert. How could it not? A charitable mission with a political purpose. Plans are made. The Rotterdam will sail from Plymouth in the spring. Chaim Weizmann, the British chemist and leader of the Zionist movement, will host Albert and Elsa aboard.

Albert’s German friends cannot believe the news. For any German to travel to America while a state of war still exists between the two countries, and just as a schedule for the payment of German reparations is being prepared–well, the optics, as they say, are bad. ‘The whole world looks on you as the most important German Jew’, Albert’s friend Fritz Haber tells him. ‘If, at this moment, you ostentatiously cosy up to the British and their friends, people in this country will see that as evidence of Jewish faithlessness.’

Einstein responds the same day. He has made up his mind. No argument will deflect him. ‘I am not needed for my abilities, of course, but only for my name’, he admits. ‘Its promotional value is anticipated to reap considerable success amongst our rich tribespeople in Dollaria.’ In the name of internationalism, he is bound to do his duty: to spread the word of science and to link arms with like-minded people across the ocean.

In any case, Einstein writes, ‘I must go… the steamship seats have already been booked’.

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