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WORLD NEWS Saturday 10 November 2018
Letter shows a fearful Einstein long before Nazis' rise

By ARON HELLER varia. firstly, pleasant and, sec-
Associated Press "This letter reveals to us the ondly, necessary."
JERUSALEM (AP) — More thoughts that were running Addressing his sister's con-
than a decade before the through Einstein's mind and cerns, Einstein writes: "Don't
Nazis seized power in Ger- heart at a very preliminary worry about me, I myself
many, Albert Einstein was stage of Nazi terror," said don't worry either, even if
on the run and already Meron Eren, co-owner of it's not quite kosher, peo-
fearful for his country's fu- the Kedem Auction House ple are very upset. In Italy,
ture, according to a newly in Jerusalem, which ob- it seems to be at least as
revealed handwritten let- tained the letter and of- bad."
ter. fered The Associated Later in 1922, Einstein was
His longtime friend and fel- Press a glimpse before the awarded the Nobel Prize in
low Jew, German Foreign public sale. "The relation- physics.
Minister Walther Rathenau, ship between Albert and Ze'ev Rosenkranz, the assis-
had just been assassinated Maja was very special and tant director of the Einstein
by right-wing extremists close, which adds another Papers Project at Caltech,
and police had warned dimension to Einstein the said the letter wasn't the first
the noted physicist that his This June, 1954, file photo shows renowned physicist Albert Ein- man and greater authen- time Einstein warned about
life could be in danger too. stein in Princeton, N.J. More than a decade before the Nazis ticity to his writings." German anti-Semitism, but
seized power in Germany, Albert Einstein was on the run and
So Einstein fled Berlin and already fearful for his country’s future, according to a newly re- The letter, which bears no it captured his state of mind
went into hiding in northern vealed handwritten letter. return address, is presumed at this important junction
Germany. It was during this Associated Press to have been written while after Rathenau's killing and
hiatus that he penned a he was staying in the port the "internal exile" he im-
handwritten letter to his be- be able to get away from est collection of Einstein city of Kiel before embark- posed on himself shortly af-
loved younger sister, Maja, everything." material. Together with the ing on a lengthy speaking ter it. "Einstein's initial reac-
warning of the dangers of The previously unknown let- California Institute of Tech- tour across Asia. tion was one of panic and
growing nationalism and ter, brought forward by an nology it runs the Einstein "I'm doing pretty well, de- a desire to leave Germany
anti-Semitism years before anonymous collector, is set Papers Project. Individual spite all the anti-Semites for good. Within a week,
the Nazis ultimately rose to to go on auction next week auctions of his personal among the German col- he had changed his mind,"
power, forcing Einstein to in Jerusalem with an open- letters have brought in leagues. I'm very reclusive he said. "The letter reveals
flee his native Germany for ing asking price of $12,000. substantial sums in recent here, without noise and a mindset rather typical of
good. As the most influential sci- years. without unpleasant feel- Einstein in which he claims
"Out here, nobody knows entist of the 20th century, The 1922 letter shows he ings, and am earning my to be impervious to exter-
where I am, and I'm be- Einstein's life and writings was concerned about Ger- money mainly indepen- nal pressures. One reason
lieved to be away on a have been thoroughly re- many's future a full year dent of the state, so that may be to assuage his sis-
trip," he wrote in August searched. The Hebrew before the Nazis even at- I'm really a free man," he ter's concerns. Another is
1922. "Here are brewing ec- University in Jerusalem, of tempted their first coup — wrote. "You see, I am about that he didn't like to admit
onomically and politically which Einstein was a found- the failed Munich Beer Hall to become some kind of that he was stressed about
dark times, so I'm happy to er, houses the world's larg- Putsch to seize power in Ba- itinerant preacher. That is, external factors."q

Hamas gets funds from Qatar to pay civil servants' salaries

By FARES AKRAM posed when it seized Gaza months, they had instead
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) in 2007. received smaller stipends
— Gaza's Hamas rulers Qatar, Egypt and the every 40 days. Hamas says
lauded on Friday what they United Nations, acting as the monthly disbursements
described as a gain of their go-betweens for Hamas will gradually increase.
weekly protests along Ga- and Israel, intensified their Alongside the cash deliv-
za-Israel perimeter fence, shuttle diplomacy in recent eries, Hamas demands an
which have often turned weeks after a full-blown expansion of the permis-
deadly, after receiving $15 war between Hamas and sible fishing zone off Gaza
million from Qatar to help Israel appeared imminent. beach, uninterrupted flow
pay the salaries of the ter- The Qatari grant is part of of fuel to mitigate chronic
ritory's civil servants. indirect Hamas-Israel un- power shortages and the
"Today, we see some fruits derstandings to improve lifting of Israeli restrictions
of the protests — the par- living conditions for Gaza's on exports and imports, a
tial breaking of the siege 2 million people and sub- A masked protester waves his national flag near the fence of Hamas official said, speak-
Gaza Strip border with Israel during a protest east of Gaza City,
on Gaza," Khalil al-Hayya, sequently scale down the Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. ing on condition of ano-
a senior Hamas official, told border protests, in which Associated Press nymity because he was not
reporters at a protest in east 170 Palestinians and an authorized to discuss the
Gaza City, referring to the Israeli soldier have been preventing them from pay- humanitarian operations matter publicly.
grant. "We are still waiting killed since they began in ing complete salaries to for six months. For the second week in a
for the implementation of March. their 40,000 employees. Employees reporting to row, the Palestinians kept
all other understandings." The closure squeezed But on Thursday, a Qatari the group lined up outside Friday's protests carefully
Since March, the Islamic Hamas financially. Recent envoy brought the money Hamas-affiliated banks restrained, burning fewer
militant group has orches- budget cuts by the West through Israel in three suit- and post offices — typi- tires and refraining from
trated weekly demonstra- Bank-based administra- cases. They were the first cally shut for the weekend breaching the fence to
tions along the fence, in tion of President Mahmoud installment of $90 million on Fridays — to receive avoid drawing a lethal
large part against a block- Abbas have worsened the that Qatar has pledged 60 percent of their long- response from the Israeli
ade Israel and Egypt im- situation for Gaza's rulers, to cover salaries and other overdue salaries. In recent military.q