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Einstein landing card

A landing card relating to Albert Einstein’s escape from Nazi Germany has been discovered and put on display for the first time at the UK Border Agency’s national museum in Liverpool.

The Jewish physicist fled from his homeland when Adolf Hitler came to power. A bounty was put on his head by the Nazis, who named him an enemy of the regime.

Landing cards were completed by all passengers arriving in Britain. Einstein’s card is proof of his journey from Ostende, Belgium, to Dover on 26 May 1933. On the reverse, he wrote that he was bound for Oxford.

After nearly 80 years stored at Heathrow Airport, the landing card was discovered by curators from the museum, which is called ‘Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered’.

Assistant curator Lucy Gardner 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.

“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.

“This tiny piece of paper brings to life Einstein’s escape from the Nazis to England. This country became a safe haven for him until he eventually settled in the US.”

‘Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered’ is located in Liverpool’s Merseyside Maritime Museum.

Asha Mohamed

My aunt sent me this Somalian shash as a gift. I was meant to wear it when I got married but for me it’s my connection to Somalia, as I’ve grown up and lived here all my life. Only married women in Somalia wear these headscarves, but I used to wear it when I was fifteen and got some funny looks from Somalian women.

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Children emerging from under an advertising hoarding in Great Horton in Bradford, 1985

This picture asks questions, rather than illustrating an answer, about the subject of migration. For me it celebrates the multi-ethnic make-up of cities such as Bradford while acknowledging some of the tensions that can arise between communities. The Asian migrants to Bradford were originally welcomed to the city to work in the textile mills. When this picture was taken during the 1980s most of this industry disappeared, and together with the rise of far-right groups, tensions between communities increased in many areas.