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Letter from Albert Einstein to Eduard (sic) Warburg alongside photograph of Albert Einstein with refugee children and JDC leader William Rosenwald in Princeton, NJ

Philippe Halsman, Albert Einstein1941-06-25/1949

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives
New York, New York, United States

As the Honorary President of the American Committee of the Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants (OSE), which was devoted to the safeguarding of the health of Jews, Albert Einstein thanked the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) for helping French children escape to the United States. JDC played an active role in rescuing refugee children from internment camps in France and resettling them in America. At his home (112 Mercer Street) in Princeton, New Jersey, one day before his seventieth birthday, Albert Einstein is visited by a group of World War II European Jewish refugee children. Einstein's distant cousin, Elizabeth Kerzek (far left) , is among the group. The cousins had not met before. Einstein's dog, Chico, is also in this photograph. Leaning in behind Einstein to speak with him is the National Chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, William Rosenwald, who was also a major American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) leader. United Service for New Americans, an agency of the UJA, brought the children to the United States. The image is one from a series of photographs used to publicize USNA’s work. An article featuring one of the photographs stated that Einstein had accepted a magnificent birthday gift from Rosenwald, “a pledge that all displaced persons camps in Europe would be emptied by the end of 1949. Einstein declared that he was “made happy by the thought." After the visit, he declared “these children visiting me are symbolic of the ideal of a revitalized Jewish people.’”

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  • Title: Letter from Albert Einstein to Eduard (sic) Warburg alongside photograph of Albert Einstein with refugee children and JDC leader William Rosenwald in Princeton, NJ
  • Creator: Letter: Albert Einstein Image: Philippe Halsman (1906-79)
  • Date Created: 1941-06-25/1949
  • Location: Princeton, NJ
  • Rights: Letter: The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives Photograph: Philippe Halsman©Halsman Archives
  • Medium: Letter: paper Image: photograph
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Archives

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