‘Einstein’ has become a colloquial term for someone very smart, which is an achievement in its own kind. Albert Einstein truly was a genius, best known for his theory of General relativity, Special relativity, and, of course, for the famous equation e=mc2, stipulating that mass and energy were essentially the same thing.
Everyone knows him as a great physicist, some have heard something about his troubled life in Germany, few know him as a humanitarian. His life was very strongly influence, however, by his Jewish heritage. He lived through the World War II, and, perhaps, the only reason he survived it, was because he managed to flee from Germany to the United States.
He was lucky, in a sense, because when Adolf Hitler came to power and put the Nazi war machine in full gear, Einstein was in the United States, touring American universities. In 1933 Germany started the crackdown on Jews; as of April, Jews were barred from holding official positions, including teaching at universities. In just a month, Einstein's works were targeted by the infamous Nazi book burnings. A German magazine even called him an enemy of the German regime and offered a $5,000 bounty on his head.
Despite the hardships Einstein’s Jewish heritage resulted in, he was not discouraged. In fact, on the contrary. In an essay entitled "An Ideal of Service to Our Fellow Man," he wrote:
The highest principles for our aspirations and judgments are given to us westerners in the Jewish-Christian religious tradition. It is a very high goal: free and responsible development of the individual, so that he may place his powers freely and gladly in the service of all mankind. The pursuit of recognition for their own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice and the quest for personal independence from the traditional themes of the Jewish people, of which I am a member.
After becoming essentially nationless, Einstein moved around Europe for a while, eventually settling in the United States, becoming a resident scholar in the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study. Apart from pursuing science, Einstein assisted European Jews fleeing persecution by vouching for many personally; he lobbies for looser immigration rules. Moreover, he called racism America’s “worst disease” and campaigned for civil rights of African Americans, joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Princeton.
In a letter dated March 20, 1936, Einstein wrote to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium:
I am privileged by fate to live here in Princeton as if on an island that in many respects resembles the charming palace garden in Laeken. Into this small university town, too, the chaotic voices of human strife barely penetrate. I am almost ashamed to be living in such peace while all the rest struggle and suffer.
Einstein initially supported the development of nuclear weapons by the United States, although was not directly involved in the Manhattan Project. However, he later regretted this decision and opposed development of nuclear weapons. In 1947 he wrote an article for The Atlantic Monthly, in which he urged for the US to give up its nuclear weapons and equip the United Nations with them. The supra-national organization would be the only body with nuclear weapons, used solely to maintain deterrence. In the troubled times, Einstein always strove for equality and peace.
