The landing card was issued to Albert Einstein when he arrived at Dover Recently discovered immigration papers documenting Albert Einstein’s 1933 escape from Nazi Germany are being displayed for the first time – at a Liverpool museum.
The German-born Jewish scientist fled his native country after Hitler labelled him an enemy of the regime.
The landing card, issued when he arrived at Dover, was discovered at Heathrow Airport.
It is being exhibited at Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool.
The card, signed by the Noble Prize-winning physicist, records Einstein’s arrival from Belgium on 23 May, 1933.
It lists his profession as ‘Professor’ and his nationality as ‘Swiss’.
“What’s remarkable is that the landing card bears his signature, has his profession as ‘professor’ and lists his nationality as Swiss”
Lucy Gardner Merseyside Maritime Museum
Landing cards were once completed by all passengers arriving in England, the reverse of the card states that Einstein was heading for Oxford.
Lucy Gardner, assistant curator of Merseyside Maritime Museum’s Border and Customs gallery, said: “We didn’t know this landing card ever existed until we visited UK Border Agency officers at Heathrow.
“We were keen on acquiring any documents relating to immigration but were stunned to find paperwork relating to such a prominent historical figure as Albert Einstein.”
Einstein was a professor at the Prussian Academy of Science in Berlin from 1914.
When Hitler’s regime took over Germany and began its repressive measures against Jews in particular, Einstein resigned from his position.
Einstein, who died in 1955, settled in the United States after spending a period under armed protection in England.
His 1921 Noble Prize was awarded for his contribution to science with his Theories of Special and General Relativity.
Lucy Gardner said the immigration card revealed Einstein’s feelings about his country’s government.
“What’s remarkable is that the landing card bears his signature, has his profession as ‘professor’ and lists his nationality as Swiss.
“This shows how Einstein had renounced his German citizenship only weeks earlier in angry reaction to Nazi policies.”
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