A 1942 letter from Albert Einstein to a friend on the subject of US non-intervention in the second world war is to auction.

Einstein was in the US when Hitler took control of Germany in 1933.

Einstein was furious that the US didn't do more to prevent the spread of facism

He watched with horror as Europe was torn apart. Even after the war ended, he never returned to his home country. 

In this letter he vents his frustration at American inaction (and obstruction) in the years leading up to the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

It reads in part: “Why did Washington help to strangulate Loyalist Spain? Why has it an official representative in fascist France?

“Why does it not recognize a French Government in Exile?

“Why does it flirt with Franco-Spain? Why is there no really serious effort to assist Russia in her dire need? Why is Finland treated with kid-gloves? (I know their explanations but do not believe them.)

“Because it is a government controlled to a large degree by financiers the mentality of whom is near to the fascist frame of mind.

“If Hitler were not a lunatic he could easily have avoided the hostility of the Western powers.”

This isn’t the first time this letter has sold.

It realised $36,000 in an auction at Profiles in History in 2016.

This time around it’s valued at $50,000-60,000. It will cross the block at Early American History Auctions on April 29. 

Einstein letters have risen in value over the past couple of years. Recently, a collection of five (also typed) beat an estimate of $25,000 to take $60,000.

We have a real bargain to offer you.  

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