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Einstein's secret plan to rescue academic targeted by Nazis revealed in new letter

A letter written by the physicist is up for auction with the proceeds going to Oxfam

September 26, 2023 13:08
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German born American physicist Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), 1946. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)
1 min read

Albert Einstein attempted to rescue a prominent academic from Nazi Germany, a letter written by the famed Jewish scientist has revealed. 

In the letter from October 1933, Einstein appealed to Scottish philosopher, translator and war veteran Sir William David Ross to bring Professor Julius Stenzel, a German philosopher, to the UK.

Professor Stenzel, who initially worked at the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel, was a member of a disciplinary committee that had expelled some Nazi students from the university in 1930.

However, Stenzel was denounced by a student and given a temporary leave of absence. He lost his job under the Professional Civil Service Act - a law the Nazis brought in to remove Jews from public service and transferred to the University of Halle.