ALBERT EINSTEIN'S ZIONISM
The Humanitarian Impulse Behind the Movement to Resurrect the Jewish Homeland
as seen through the eyes of its most exceptional advocate

A year-by-year account of Einstein's take on ideas and events as they shaped the Zionist struggle
(THIS WORK IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. EDITORIAL REVIEW, COPYEDITING, FULL REFERENCING, PERMISSIONS AND CREDITING IS IN PROGRESS)

An Internet Project By

Daniel S. Cutler

© 2005

PRAGUE:

Einstein's assessment:

[Zionists in Prague are] "a small troop of unrealistic people, harking back to the Middle Ages."

Letter to Hedwig Born, September 8, 1916 in Jurgen Neffe, Einstein A
Biography Farrar, Straus, Giroux, New York 2005 tranlation 2007 by
Shelley Frisch pg. 311

Einstein was amused to recognize himself as the model for astronomer Johannes Keppler in Max Brod's historical novel Tycho Brahe's Way to God.

The Zionists fail to draw in Einstein, but he does, for the first time, appreciate the difficult position of Jews in society: In Prague Jews regard themselves as a Germans. Czechs, too, see them as one with the German oppressors.

But the Sudeten (Czech) Germans already have adopted "the racist mind set that would soon sweep Germany". They regard Jews as inferior outsiders - This according to Philipp Frank, Einstein's successor at the university, himself a participant in Berta Fanta soiree's -- and one of Einstein's future biographers. [Philipp Frank, Einstein: His Life and Times, Knopf (1947) p. 83-85]

Nevertheless, on leaving Prague Einstein emphasized that "[i]n Prague I did not notice any denominational prejudice, as others have surmised." Pais, Einstein Lived Here pg. 142

A note about
Einstein's assistant in Prague: Emil Nohel
Son of a Jewish farmer in a small Czech village (in a district where in the 1860's it had become legal for Jews to own land) Emil Nohel had previously been a high school physics teacher. In that profession he inspired a previously uninterested boy to take up the subject. That boy, Walther Kohn, won the 1998 Nobel Prize for Physics.

Emil Nohel took a position in Vienna when Einstein returned to Zurich. In 1942 Nohel was sent to Teresenstadt concentration camp. After the rest of his family died he volunteered for deportation to extermination camp.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE, PALESTINE DISTRICT:

Arabic newspaper Falastin founded.
By Isa Daud al-Isa and his cousin Joseph. They are among first to address their readers as "Palestinians". Einstein will correspond with this newspaper in 1931 urging "sympathetic cooperation " between Jewish and Arab nationalisms.

1912

GERMAN EMPIRE:

April

Einstein reacquaints with, is smitten by cousin Elsa
on a brief visit to Berlin. The divorcee has two daughters, Ilse and Margot.

SWITZERLAND:

July

Albert and Mileva Einstein return to Zurich
He begins a position as full professorship at his alma mater, the Polytechnik .

OTTOMAN EMPIRE:

SWITZERLAND:

March 14

Einstein receives 34th birthday card from Cousin Elsa
His marriage to Mileva on the rocks, he writes back to Elsa offering to explain Relativity to her.

Einstein is recruited, accepts offer from University of Berlin
Delays departure until following spring.

A new theory of gravity occupies Einstein.

VIENNA:

Zionist Congress decides to found a Hebrew University in Palestine
Chaim Weizmann heads planning commission which includes Judah Magnes. Weizmann spurred the interest and involvement of others -- Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Dr. Paul Ehrlich, Martin Buber, Achad Ha-am, and potential faculty members.

GERMAN EMPIRE:

April 1

Einstein moves to Berlin
after accepting offer to join Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin. As a salaried member he is at the top of his profession, famous among physicists but still unknown to the public.

Einstein refuses an invitation from the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia

"I find it repugnant to travel without necessity to a country [Russia] in which my tribesmen are so brutally persecuted."
Einstein to Pëtr P. Lazarev, May 16, 1914, CPAE vol. 8A, p. 18.

Mileva and boys join him in Berlin at end of month.
He is increasingly uninterested in her and Mileva grows depressed.

July 24

Einstein and Mileva draw up separation contract
Mileva and boys return to Zurich.

EUROPE:

June 28

Austrian Archduke Ferdinand assassinated by Serbian separatist
Austria and Germany declare war on Serbia, Russia enters on side of Serbia, as do England and France. Germany invades Belgium on its way to France.; Atrocity rumors spread around the world.

August

OTTOMAN EMPIRE:

Ottoman Turkish Empire enters WWI on side of Germany and Austria-Hungary

"Together in the Fight" German, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian leaders on contemporary postcard celebrating the "Central Powers",  united against the "Triple Entante" of Britain, France, and Russia

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire vs. Britain, France, Russia

better map coming xxxx

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BRITAIN:

Chaim Weizmann, Zionist Leader, Meets Former British Prime Minister Lord Balfour.
The Russian-born professor of Biochemistry in Manchester England has become a leading spokesman for Zionism. Having made a crucial contribution to the British war effort (devising a way to synthesize acetone, a TNT ingredient, from cereals and horse chestnuts) Weizmann uses his good graces to lobby for a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

General Theory of Relativity
Einstein publishes his major work.

Pacifist Manifesto signed by Einstein
It is drawn up to counter a nationalistic manifesto circulated earlier by ninety prominent Germans, including Einstein's scientist friends (Paul Ehrlich, Max Planck supported Germany's "defensive" invasion of Belgium). With signing the counter Manifesto to Europeans Einstein disassociates himself from German militarism. Only two others besides Einstein sign.

OTTOMAN EMPIRE :

Arab nationalists call for Arab State independent of Ottoman Empire
Al-Fatat (not to be confused with Fatah) combines with Arab Ottoman officers  to issue "Damascus Protocol"

Young Turk government conducts genocidal massacres of Armenians
Under pretense breakaway Armenians minority are subverting war effort by siding with Imperial Russia.

Zionism seen as  tenet of American Progressive Movement -
in that it embodies the raising up of "the little guy" . The idea of reconstituting the Jewish homeland, however, remains a minority stance among American Jews.)

The glorious past [of the Jews] can really live only if it becomes part of the glorious future; and to this end the Jewish home in Palestine is essential. We Jews of prosperous America above all need its inspiration.
(Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Menorah Journal, January 1915)

 

Protests against against Czarist government's mass expulsions of Jews from border areas of Pale of Settlement, organized by Louis Marshall

Marshall campaigns for Minority Rights in Eastern Europe:
Protect minorities in any new states formed from territories liberated by defeat of Ottoman Empire
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Serbia, Rumania, Greece, and Armenia
Notably, all the new countries "regarded the minorities treaties as a gratuitous infringement upon their painfully achieved national sovereignties" (Howard M. Sacher pg. 401-02) -- except Masaryk's Czechoslovakia.

Einstein asks Mileva for divorce.
She suffers breakdown and is unable to care for boys. They are farmed out. His sons develop hostility towards him. Youngest, Eduard, particularly suffers severe mood swings.

Einstein's health deteriorates. He's nursed by widowed cousin Elsa.
He suffers abdominal pains, loses 56 pounds.

British make pact with Sharif Hussein: Fight with us against Turks, win independence.
If Arabs help British war aims by revolting against Ottoman Turks, Britain will support creation of a unified independent Arab kingdom from Syria to Yemen, with a few exceptions.

The agreement excludes three areas:
The wilayets (Ottoman provinces) of Basra and Baghdad, the Turkish districts of Alexandretta and Mersin, and, most importantly, ;portions of Syria lying to the west of the districts of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and Aleppo.” The interpretation of the last section will become the source of great controversy. The British later claimed that Palestine was meant to be excluded from the area of Arab rule, as it is technically located west of Damascus: for obvious reasons the Zionists took the same position. The Arabs interpreted the letter as it reads: Lebanon, not Palestine, is to the west of Damascus and the other areas mentioned.

June

Sharif Hussein declares Arab independence, opens Eastern front against Ottoman Turks
His sons, Emirs Abdullah and Feisal lead Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule. British officer T. E. Lawrence "of Arabia" provides English military expertise. Arabs fulfill their part of the McMahon-Hussein Agreement

As a direct descendant of Mohammed and rightful leader of the Islamic faith Sharif Hussein announces intent to replace Sultan Mehmed V as Caliph -- spiritual leader of all Muslims.

But, secretly Britain agrees with France to divide conquered Ottoman lands
between them. The secret agreement is called Sykes-Picot Agreement after the British and French officials who concocted it.

Einstein becomes Director of KWI
Berlin's Kaiser-Wilhelm Institute, dedicated to physics research

Einstein falls seriously ill, nursed to health by cousin Elsa

November 2

Britain makes yet a third promise, this one to World Jewry:The Balfour Declaration
Letter from Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild commits Britain to promoting a Jewish Homeland in Palestine

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet.

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.

Yours sincerely,

Arthur James Balfour

Bolsheviks withdraw Russia from WWI
They cede vast swath of former Russian Empire to Germany (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
For 6 months Germany's "Second Reich" controls much of Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Romania, and Ukraine.

Russian Civil War erupts; Reds vs Whites

Chief opposition to communist "Reds" is "White Guards": undefeated Czarist forces, monarchist officers, Orthodox church, and Slavophilic aristocrats associated with Black Hundreds.

Whites declare Soviets a "Jewish government"  (as several prominent soviet leaders have Jewish roots).

Soviets see anti-Semitic campaign as reactionary and launch countermeasures to weed out anti-Semitism.

December 11

British general George Allenby takes Jerusalem from Turks
Soon all Palestine is under British control, ending four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule.
(Einstein came to blame Britain's subsequent 31 years of colonial "divide and conquer" strategy -- keeping contesting populations focused on their differences rather than uniting to throw of British rule -- - for the failure of Jews and Arabs to settle differences.)

"The 14 points", Principals to guide WWI peace treaty: enunciated by US President Woodrow Wilson
A major theme of American President Woodrow Wilson's: Self-determination for national groups now under imperial rule

Suddenly Germany finds itself fighting alone
After Bulgaria surrenders (September) exposing Germany's southern flank war effort is doomed.
Turkey and Austria-Hungary surrender

German militarist government conceals the fact that the war is lost
Continues to issue victorious proclamations while secretly trying to negotiate armistice with Allies who refuse to come to terms with the dictatorship, demand democratic reform first

German militarists turn over government to left-wing Social Democrats
Social Democrats sign armistice with Allies, surprising Germany citizens who have been duped into believing they're winning the war.
Social Democrats end up taking blame for defeat.

Red Revolution in Berlin, Munich.
Pitched street battles between various communist groups with Friekorp combat units comprised of former front-line soldiers.

1919 street fighting in Berlin copy copy copy	Spartakus Rebellion copy copy copy

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Armed leftist students seize university professors, rector, occupy the Reichstag.

Einstein presents himself to obtain his colleagues' release.
Physicist Max Born and Max Wertheimer (founder of gestalt psychology) accompany him.

Student guards admit the famous pacifist's delegation (and a reporter). Inside they find cigarette butts and an arms cache The party watches in dismay as student radicals pass a resolution that only socialist doctrines be taught at university, only socialist professors hired, only socialists admitted as students. Turning to Einstein for support he instead chastises them that freedom of thought is the lifeblood of a university and that he regretted their vote. The students then pronounce themselves unauthorized to release his hostage colleagues. Einstein and party go straight to the office of Freidrich Ebert, socialist leader of government. They obtain a hand written note to release the academics, which they take back to the students and they honor.
(Edmund Blair Bowles, Einstein Defiant Joseph Henry Press Washington 2004 (pg. 3-11)

PALESTINE:

Weizmann arrives in Palestine leading Zionist Commission
Weizmann arrives as head of official British Zionist survey - crosses to Aqaba to meet Emir Feisal. Feisal pledges to Weizmann (in writing) he will recognize Jewish national aims in Palestine, provided Arab nationalist aims are achieved in Iraq and Syria. But French-British collusion will deny Feisal his kingdom and he will feel released from his promises to Weizmann.

July 24

Hebrew University cornerstone laid - It will be Einstein's pet project
Weizmann presides over the ceremony on Mount Scopus on a plot of land purchased six months earlier by The Jewish National Fund from the estate of Sir John Grey-Hill estate. In attendance (despite still being in range of Turkish artillery): General Allenby, representatives of France, Italy, USA, Muslim and Christian leaders. Weizmann cements into place the first of fourteen foundation stones. Among the others who followed suit are the Anglican bishop, representatives of the Zionist movement, and the Mufti of Jerusalem (brother and predecessor of the mufti who Einstein will come to see as the "source of all the trouble")..

Weizmann remarks:

"Here out of the misery and desolation of war, is being created the firm germ of a new life. In this university we have gone beyond restoration: we are creating, during, the war something which is to serve as a symbol of a better future. In the university the wandering soul of the Jew will reach its haven."

Weizmann closes his address by reading telegrams of congratulations from Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Minister, the French government and the Emir Feisal, who he had recently met.

Victims of a White Army pogrom

EASTERN EUROPE:

Eastern European nationalists rise up to throw out Bolsheviks.
Jews seen as Bolshevik allies, become targets

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Jewish self-defense, a new phenomenon
Funeral of a Jewish Self Defense Commander Among organizers of protection against pogromists were some who immigrated to Palestine and were instrumental in setting up early defenses of Jewish communities there.

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GERMAN REPUBLIC (WEIMAR):

Victorious Allies demand Germany's military dictatorship cede power to civilian. It is this liberal democratic government that actually surrenders to Allies in October and transforms Germany into a parliamentary democracy.

German sailors mutiny after being ordered to confront British navy, despite war's foregone conclusion. 1,000 seamen are arrested. Revolt spreads through Germany, modeled on worker and soldier councils in Russia's revolution one year earlier.

Food shortages in Berlin, exacerbated by a British naval blockade which continues until the Versailles conference.

Einstein writes to Paul Ehrenfest just four months after the war's end. In addition to violent political upheaval Berlin suffers food shortages, exacerbated by a British naval blockade that lasts until the Paris Peace Conference. As a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Leiden in neutral Holland, the Vienna-born Ehrenfest has escaped all this misery [Bertram Schwarzschild - see citation below].

Prior to Peace Conference, Arabs meet, denounce Balfour plan

"Southern Syria" First Palestinian newspaper published, in Jerusalem
Edited by Arif al-Arif with contributions from former Ottoman artillery officer Amin al-Husseini (who will dominate Palestinian nationalism for next critical decades.

January 30, 1919
Paris Peace conference takes up issues of former Ottoman lands

US activists press for minority rights in Eastern European states seeking independence

Recognition of new countries made contingent on Minorities Treaties guaranteeing rights for ethnic minorities

Independence made contingent on signing of Minorities treaty detailing rights of minority groups (chiefly Jews and ethnic Ukrainians, Belorussians). The treaty is regarded as undue interference and ignored. In contrast, interwar Czechoslovakia also resented the Minorities Treaty but complied fully. (President Masaryk played a decisive role in defending national minority rights of Bohemian Jews.)

January

Zionist-Arab mutual support pact signed
Emir Feisal Hussein, son of Sharif Hussein, ruler of Mecca and leader of the Arab revolt against the Turks and Dr. Chaim Weizmann agree that their two national aspirations complement each other.

June 28
Covenant of League of Nations signed

"Mandate" system established for former Ottoman lands
Article 22 of League's covenant establishes the Mandate System, considers the
Arab lands as class "A" mandates, stating:

"Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principle consideration in the selection of the Mandatory."

("Mandate system" is conceived by Jan Smuts, "a lean and leathern South African ststesman (and the inventor of words "holistic" amd apartheid". Michael B. Oren, Power, Faith, and Fantasy page 381)

King-Crane Commission
President Woodrow Wilson:: What do the locals want? He sends he King-Crane Commission to ascertain.
Wilson dispatches plumbing magnate Charles R. Cranes and Oberlin College president Henry King to determine the wishes of the people in Anatolian Turkey and the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

"[Woodrow Wilson] felt these two men were particularly qualified to go to Syria because they knew nothing about it"
(Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Vol. 11, p. 133)]

 

British and French colonial interests suppressed the report. The King-Crane report was not published officially until 1947.

GERMAN REPUBLIC (WEIMAR):

Jews blamed for the Fatherland's defeat in WWI

Stabbed in the Back!

Einstein's theory denounced as "Jewish mathematics", "bolshevism in physics".

Black-shirted students break up Einstein's lecture at University of Berlin.

February 14

Einstein's divorce from Mileva comes through
one month before his fortieth birthday