Einstein's Age Of Extremism

"To see the effect that xenophobia, anti-intellectualism and populist rage can have on a nation's culture, we need look no further than the life of Albert Einstein."

"Germany in Einstein's lifetime had never been particularly hospitable to Jews, but by the early 1920s, German Jews like him were being treated like aliens in their own land. In 1922, when the Jewish foreign minister of Germany, Walter Rathenau, was assassinated — to the glee of conservatives across the country — Einstein realized that serious danger was beginning for prominent Jews like himself."

"Already, a Working Party of German Scientists for the Preservation of a Pure Science had been formed to fight Einstein's ideas. Their inaugural meeting had been held at the Philharmonic Hall in Berlin, with swastikas displayed in the hallway and anti-Semitic brochures on sale in the lobby. A few of the Einstein haters had some academic affiliation, but most were poorly educated. "Science, once our greatest pride, is today being taught by Hebrews!" the housepainter and failed art student Adolf Hitler complained."