The focus of this episode is on the year 1932, when Albert and Elsa Einstein make the decision to leave Germany for America. But the film also traces the decade of the 1920s in America in an era that saw the rise of J. Edgar Hoover as head of the FBI.
The framing device for the episode in a sustained interview of the Einsteins by American Consul General Raymond Geist in Berlin. At the behest of Hoover, Geist grills Einstein on possible ties to the Communist Party. Some of the witty answers of Albert (and Elsa!) are the highlight of the program.
Historically, the episode covers the Zionist movement and the attempt on the part of Chaim Weizmann to recruit Einstein in the efforts to begin a Zionist state in Palestine. During the interview, the Palmer raids are mentioned, and there is brief flashback to the time Einstein visited America in 1921. In a moving scene, a child personally donates a nickel to the Zionist cause after his father was arrested and deported during the Hoover crackdown on immigrants. During a lecture in New York, Einstein charms the audience by informing them that "most of my professors thought I would grow up not to accomplish much of anything." He also goes off the script prepared by Weizmann by proclaiming that "assimilation" is not necessarily the best recourse for human independence and freedom of thought.
While sailing to Japan in 1922 via the Arabian Sea, Einstein learns that he is the recipient of the Nobel Prize in spite of the efforts of the anti-Semite Dr. Philip Lenard. For the award, Einstein was acknowledged for his breakthrough work on the photoelectric effect, which, ironically, was based on the findings Lenard!
In the scientific component of the episode, Einstein is depicted in conversation with Dr. Nils Bohr, who visits Berlin. To Bohr, Einstein asserts that "I will not turn off my brain simply because you've decided a matter is settled." Another one of Einstein's beautifully turned phrases is "I do not believe God plays dice with the universe." In a brief scene in Zurich in 1932, Einstein visits young Eduard, who has just made the attempt on his life. Einstein apologizes to the lad for his negligence and then plays the violin to soothe "Teddy.
The most dramatic scene in the episode is the moment when Hoover denies the Einsteins' applications for visas to America. But Elsa moves into action by approaching a reporter friend to place an article in the New York Times, describing how the Einsteins were harassed by the American authorities. With the outrage of Congress, Hoover backs down and grants the visas, if only Einstein will sign a declaration that he has never been a member of the Communist Party. He refuses. But the kind Geist grants the visas anyway, after which Einstein signs the waver so that Geist will not lose his job.
In a caption at the close of the program, it is revealed that Raymond Geist had issued life-saving visas for more than 50,000 Jews. At one point, Einstein told Geist that the "myth" of America does not fit the "reality." But Geist's selfless action challenges Einstein's assertion.
The framing device for the episode in a sustained interview of the Einsteins by American Consul General Raymond Geist in Berlin. At the behest of Hoover, Geist grills Einstein on possible ties to the Communist Party. Some of the witty answers of Albert (and Elsa!) are the highlight of the program.
Historically, the episode covers the Zionist movement and the attempt on the part of Chaim Weizmann to recruit Einstein in the efforts to begin a Zionist state in Palestine. During the interview, the Palmer raids are mentioned, and there is brief flashback to the time Einstein visited America in 1921. In a moving scene, a child personally donates a nickel to the Zionist cause after his father was arrested and deported during the Hoover crackdown on immigrants. During a lecture in New York, Einstein charms the audience by informing them that "most of my professors thought I would grow up not to accomplish much of anything." He also goes off the script prepared by Weizmann by proclaiming that "assimilation" is not necessarily the best recourse for human independence and freedom of thought.
While sailing to Japan in 1922 via the Arabian Sea, Einstein learns that he is the recipient of the Nobel Prize in spite of the efforts of the anti-Semite Dr. Philip Lenard. For the award, Einstein was acknowledged for his breakthrough work on the photoelectric effect, which, ironically, was based on the findings Lenard!
In the scientific component of the episode, Einstein is depicted in conversation with Dr. Nils Bohr, who visits Berlin. To Bohr, Einstein asserts that "I will not turn off my brain simply because you've decided a matter is settled." Another one of Einstein's beautifully turned phrases is "I do not believe God plays dice with the universe." In a brief scene in Zurich in 1932, Einstein visits young Eduard, who has just made the attempt on his life. Einstein apologizes to the lad for his negligence and then plays the violin to soothe "Teddy.
The most dramatic scene in the episode is the moment when Hoover denies the Einsteins' applications for visas to America. But Elsa moves into action by approaching a reporter friend to place an article in the New York Times, describing how the Einsteins were harassed by the American authorities. With the outrage of Congress, Hoover backs down and grants the visas, if only Einstein will sign a declaration that he has never been a member of the Communist Party. He refuses. But the kind Geist grants the visas anyway, after which Einstein signs the waver so that Geist will not lose his job.
In a caption at the close of the program, it is revealed that Raymond Geist had issued life-saving visas for more than 50,000 Jews. At one point, Einstein told Geist that the "myth" of America does not fit the "reality." But Geist's selfless action challenges Einstein's assertion.
