5 4 8 A P P E N D I X G
necessity; I am a Swiss citizen and must be a bit . . . neutral, but, for instance, I think that
the greatest contribution to peace could be made by the press, the press that, instead, too
often, helps the war or helps to stir up political unrest. If the press in all countries were unit-
ed in a plan of peace, a decisive step would be taken towards the achievement of our ideal
of harmony, brotherhood, and universal sharing of goods in the world.
I ask Albert Einstein, in conclusion, if he will continue his travels or will return to the
quiet of his studies, and then he confronts an issue that is evidently very close to his heart:
Zionism.
— You know that regarding the first question, I have undertaken these travels, and espe-
cially my trip to America, not in order to explain my theory of relativity, but to do some-
thing useful for the Zionist movement. I am a Zionist and I wanted to work, above all, to
find funding and support for the Hebrew university of Jerusalem. Zionism is a great cause
and can be, I like to think in my optimism, a great movement of spirits, if not of people. It
is likely that the streams of Jewish emigrants can find a stable home in Palestine, prosperous
and tranquil, even though it is obvious that Palestine will not be able to welcome everyone.
But for me it is more important that Palestine become a cultural center and ideal, rather than
a national center.
The Jews need to have a cultural center they can be connected to and where they can el-
evate their distinctive spirit and faith. No, I do not think that Jewish assimilation is possible
or noble in a place where it is really incompatible with the most simple and modest human
dignity. We can assimilate under equal conditions, where the Jewish element is respected,
where Jewish intelligence can flourish without suffering insults or constraints, where the
distinctive national spirit is not banned from the free and harmonious coexistence of nation-
alities; but where anti-Semitism reigns, assimilation would mean humiliation and ruin, vile
approbation and loss. I do not believe in “being chosen,” in Jewish superiority, but I feel
that Judaism must have its own dignity, its own conscience and must participate in an hon-
est equality of living and cultural conditions. Zionism serves to give a consciousness and a
dignity to the Jews and does it in a way that is not humbling. The Jews shouldn’t be and are
not superior, but be they must.
This brings me to repeat to Einstein that he is considered to be one of the supreme and
most exquisite flowers of the race; but he dismisses this remark with one of his kindest
smiles and one of his most boyish gestures:
— Everything that I have done and thought is so simple, it’s nothing . . . — and standing
up, he reassumes his air of a large boy, dreamy and distant, almost suspended and swaying
in the motion of his dreams.