THE NATION: Immigrants can brin

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Mailbag 

      Immigrants can bring
      powerful influences

      The letter, captioned ''More Immigration''
      (A4, March 3) contains advice that was
      successfully practised by the US when the
      nation welcomed refugees from European
      fascism in the thirties. These refugees
      brought with them the atomic know-how that
      later helped the Allies cut short World War II
      before many more millions of
      non-combatants would have lost their lives
      in the then inevitable assault on the
      Japanese main islands. 

      Albert Einstein, a German-born Jewish
      scientist, who saw no future for himself in
      the land of his birth after 1933, because of
      chauvanistic policies, was welcomed as an
      immigrant to a land which secured his talent
      in developing an atomic bomb as part of
      the US government's Manhattan Project. 

      Having learned from that important success
      the US government, through its military
      occupation forces in defeated Germany,
      snatched rocket scientist Wernherr Braun
      from the clutches of the Soviets (who also
      wanted him to advance their plans to fly to
      the moon). Another immigrant served the
      US in securing one more important victory
      over the competition, taking that famous
      ''first step for mankind'' outside of our own
      planet. 

      To be fair, I believe that final judgement on
      the above feats by these immigrants is still
      being mulled in the minds of
      contemporaries. 

      Rudolf Voll 

      Bangkok