I came across this interesting flyer from WW2 today, it includes a speech by Albert Einstein and the goal of the flyer is donations for something or other on the front in the fight against the nazis.

I found this part particularly interesting:

In the political field, it was the Russian government, of all the great powers, that labored in the most honest and unequivocal way to promote international security. She pursued this goal in her foreign policy until shortly before the outbreak of war—actually until the other powers brusquely shut her out of the European concert, in the days of the betrayal of Czechoslovakia. Then she was driven to conclude the unhappy pact with Germany; for it was notorious that an attempt was being made to turn the force of the German attack eastwards. Russia, in contrast to the western powers, had supported the legal government of Spain; she offered assistance to Czech׳ oslovakia; and was not guilty of strengthening the arms of the German and Japanese adventurers.

There's a lot to unpack here but Einstein says:

  1. The USSR made all efforts to stop the war happening.

  2. The western powers(UK, France, US, etc) shut the USSR out of European discussions and betrayed Czechoslovakia.

  3. Molotov-Ribbentrop was an unhappy last resort that they were driven to, that the western powers were attempting to drive the nazis into attacking the USSR and that's why they would not help the USSR stop them.

  4. The USSR supported everyone while the other powers (UK, France, US, etc) strengthened the nazis and Japanese.

This is all obviously stuff most people here already know and agree with, but I think it's notable that Einstein said it. You may have libs in your life that will listen to him.

    • Awoo [she/her]26•10 months ago

      Yes.

      Why Socialism? - An essay by Einstein

      Not to mention he wrote numerous letters in defence of Stalin, the purges, trials and several other things.

      “ By the way, there are increasing signs that the Russian trials are not faked, but that there is a plot among those who look upon Stalin as a stupid reactionary who has betrayed the ideas of the revolution. Though we find it difficult to imagine this kind of internal thing, those who know Russia best are all more or less of the same opinion. I was firmly convinced to begin with that it was a case of a dictator's despotic acts, based on lies and deception, but this was a delusion.”

      Letter to Max Born (no date, 1937 or 1938); The Born-Einstein Letters (translated by Irene Born) (Walker and Company, New York, 1971).

        • GarbageShoot [he/him]17•10 months ago

          I think people still read Pricipals of Leninism and even his book on diamat.

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]10•10 months ago

          I thought it was very something to find out that is most significant worldly posession was a huge library of like 25k books that he'd been sent or gifted or picked up during his life. He gets portrayed as somehow simultaneously the most diabolical evil menace to ever menace, but also a dumb hick who didn't know anything, and both those things can't be true.

    • Albanian_Lil_Pump [he/him]13•10 months ago

      Interestingly enough, I think he didn’t support Lenin’s ideas, but said that he didn’t have any other options given the climate in Russia. Or maybe I’m thinking of another famous person whose socialism was memory holed