May 23, 2013 - Sale 2316

Sale 2316 - Lot 46

Price Realized: $ 4,800
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
WARNING AGAINST AMERICAN ANTI-SEMITISM EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Typed Letter Signed, "A. Einstein," to Lionel M. Ettlinger, in German, offering to help Dr. [Wladimir?] Lasareff to emigrate to America, but warning that coming to America is not obviously better than remaining in Europe as American Anti-Semitism is growing and university instructors are not as respected as they are in Europe. 1 page, 4to, personal stationery with blind stamped letterhead; folds. Princeton, 15 February 1945
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"I also have a great deal of sympathy for and interest in the scientific possibilities of Dr. Lasareff. In the event that he still wants to emigrate to America, I would gladly help him. I am nearly convinced, however, that the outlook after the war is unfavorable for him here due to the overabundance of labor, including many with high salaries, and also because of the apparently increasing Anti-Semitism. On the other hand, it seems to me that in Europe, despite the many disturbances, the outlook can only improve. Also, Lasareff has friends in Luettich who could support him.
"Naturally, I cannot judge the circumstances as well as he, and we must trust his judgment about whether remaining in Belgium would be favorable to him. On the other hand, as we all know, the unknown often seems better than the familiar; but this is an illusion. I have, incidentally, good connections in Belgium that I could utilize on behalf of Lasareff, if he so wishes. If you write him again, tell him that the position of university professor is not as valued in [American] society and in [American] universities as it is in Europe. [In America] there prevails an especially exploitative system, which is particularly ruthless for new-comers."