Einstein and WWII

Einstein's letter to FDR: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Einstein-Roosevelt-letter.png

In addition to rearranging the world of physics with his theory of relativity, Albert Einstein was looked up to by the public to give his views on non-scientific matters, like WWII. Einstein was a known Jewish scientist in Germany, and Hitler's law to remove Jews and suspicious government employees from their jobs forced Einstein to leave the country and go to the United States in the 1930s. Einstein opposed militarism in Germany and devoted time to recommending US visas fro Jews in Europe fleeing prosecution. It was Einstein and Leo Szilard's letter to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that urged the US to work on developing nuclear weapons, as there was a danger that German scientists would soon develop an atomic bomb of their own. The letter stressed how powerful a bomb like this would be and how much damage it could cause. It clearly expresses Einstein's view on the issue of the development of atomic weaponry; although Einstein had been a pacifist and did not support the development of weapons, he felt it was his responsibility to make sure Nazi Germany was not the only one to attain atomic weapons and that the US could stand a chance by developing their own weapons and use them against the system in Nazu Germany which Einstein opposed.