Le Coq-sur-Mer, Belgium, 5 May 1933

Name: On the Nazi rise to power
Brand: Le Coq-sur-Mer, Belgium, 5 May 1933
Price: 3200.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

Price Realised USD 4,000

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USD 2,500 - USD 3,500

Closed: 13 Jul 2017

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On the Nazi rise to power

Le Coq-sur-Mer, Belgium, 5 May 1933

Price Realised USD 4,000

Closed: 13 Jul 2017

Price Realised USD 4,000

Closed: 13 Jul 2017

Details Lot Essay Related Articles More from

Albert Einstein (1879-1955). Typed letter signed (‘Albert’) to Michele Besso, Le Coq-sur-Mer [De Haan], Belgium, 5 May 1933.

In German, one page, 276 x 211mm. Envelope.

Please note this is the property of a private consignor.

Published in Pierre Speziali (ed.) Albert Einstein. Michele Besso. Correspondance 1903-1955. Paris: Hermann, 1972. No. 116

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Lot Essay

'Personally I didn't have it too badly, unlike nearly all those who are close to me in some way or another'. Einstein blames the situation on the disastrous legacy of Bismarck. Although almost collapsing under the weight of his existing obligations, he encourages Besso to let him have his suggestions for saving Hermann Weyl from the regime – though substituting him for Einstein on a proposed trip to Spain would seem disastrously tactless. He sends his regards to Anna Besso, with the rueful remark that the German example bodes ill for an intellectual utopia which she had proposed.

Einstein had returned to Europe in March 1933, and immediately renounced his German citizenship: the Nazi regime reacted by confiscating his possessions, burning his publications and putting a bounty on his head. After an initially staying in Belgium and England, Einstein returned to the USA in October 1933 to take up an offer of a post at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton, where he was to remain until his death.