The Great Escape from Russia 1946

During World War II (1939-1945), many Polish citizens fled from their German-occupied homeland and scattered throughout Russia. After the war ended, the Russian government decided to allow Polish citizens to return to their homeland and provided freight trains (called 'Eshalons') for their transport. As part of these exit permits, permission was also granted for "family reunification" of Polish citizens who had married Russian citizens, allowing them to leave Russia together. Many Russian citizens took advantage of this loophole and attempted to cross the border using forged Polish passports through the transit city of Lvov.

Initially, the Russian government turned a blind eye to these border crossings, as they wanted to cover up the fact that many Polish citizens had died in their territory due to the terrible famine that prevailed in Russia during those years. They preferred to fill many registration books with records of Polish citizens who had supposedly "left" their territory.

Some chassidim had legitimate Polish citizenship documents - some had actually lived in Poland before the war, while others had lived as Polish citizens for various reasons despite being Soviet citizens. These individuals were able to leave Russia as Polish citizens without needing to forge documents.

The Frierdiker Rebbe's View on the Escape[edit | edit source]

When news of escape possibilities reached the chassidim, they wanted to seek the opinion of the Frierdiker Rebbe, who was then residing in the United States. Rav Binyamin Gorodetzky, who was in Samarkand at the time, sent a telegram to his father-in-law Rav Shmuel Levitin in New York, asking for the Frierdiker Rebbe's opinion regarding the escape of Chabad chassidim from Russia. Besides the great danger involved in such a mass escape, some chassidim argued that they shouldn't abandon the struggle to preserve Jewish life in Russia, warning that if the chassidim fled, the Communist government would completely eliminate Jewish activity throughout the Soviet Union.

Initially, the Frierdiker Rebbe responded that since this was a general question, they needed to wait until the situation became clearer. In the book 'The Exodus from Russia', there are details about the Frierdiker Rebbe's response: R' Benyamin Gorodetzky was concerned and waited until the end of the period when requests could be submitted. One day before the deadline, he submitted a request, and on that same day received a coded telegram from the United States, which stated: "Der zeide zogt, men zol bleibn zitzn oifn ort" - [The grandfather, the Rebbe says to remain sitting in place]. The answer regarding him was clear enough, but R' Benyamin had doubts whether this meant only for him or for all Anash. The deliberations were not easy at all, so R' Benyamin decided to present his doubts to the prominent Chassidim. Meanwhile, things remained unclear, and later around Nissan 1946, clearer responses were received from the Frierdiker Rebbe that the Chassidim should investigate for themselves if they could reach the American sector of Germany. Since after the war, there were areas in Europe under American control and other areas under Soviet control. The Frierdiker Rebbe specifically wanted the Chassidim not to remain under Soviet rule. It was then decided that the Chassidim should leave the Soviet Union and reach the American occupation zones. Thus began the saga of the 'escape' of the Chassidim through Lvov.

The Approval and Organization[edit | edit source]

After several Chassidim successfully crossed the border without incident and reached safety, they reported this to the Frierdiker Rebbe, who then authorized the Chassidim to engage in a general exodus from Russia's borders, though he set various conditions.

Organizing the Exit Routes[edit | edit source]

Since fear of Russian censorship was great and time was pressing, the Chassidim concluded that they couldn't wait and assembled a Beis Din composed of twenty-three Chassidic rabbanim who were in the area to rule whether the Chassidim should flee or not. The Beis Din met several times over three days and heard testimonies from various people who dealt with border smuggling, but concluded that the danger was too great and announced that one should not risk smuggling across the border.

Despite the ruling, there were Chassidim who received information that the KGB was after them and concluded they had nothing to lose in weighing border smuggling against exile to Siberia, and risked crossing the border. News of these Chassidim's successful escape renewed hope for those who remained within Russia's borders, but then came news that the Russians were beginning to increase surveillance and monitoring of those leaving.

To verify the rumors and border crossing possibilities, Rav Yehuda Leib Mochkin traveled to Lvov, and when he arrived there, he discovered that the barrier had fallen again, and the Russian government had stopped issuing exit permits through Polish passports. Through bribing government officials and extensive political activity in various government offices - which involved real danger to life and tremendous mesiras nefesh - he succeeded in getting the borders reopened for passage of 'Polish citizens', who were actually Chabad Chassidim leaving the Russia Under False Identity.

Vaad Leaders and Their Activities[edit | edit source]

A special committee (Vaad) was established for this purpose, whose members included:

Reb Mendel Futerfas
Reb Leibel Mochkin
Reb Avraham Levkibker
Reb Dovid Kook
Reb Yissachar Dov Gurevitch
Reb Zalman Sudkevitch
Reb Yehoshua Shneur Zalman Srebriansky
Reb Moshe Chaim Dubrawsky
Reb Dovid Katzman
Reb Yona Cohen (Poltaver)
Mrs. Sarah Katzenelboigen ('Mume Sarah')
Mrs. Hadassah Grelik (later Perman)
Reb Chaim Volovik
And other Chassidim

The committee's activities were divided into several areas: encouraging Anash in Russia to cross the borders, forging documents, raising funds to bribe various officials, and taking care of all other necessary details, such as hiding apartments in Lvov until departure, and maintaining constant contact with Anash who arrived in Lvov to cross the border.

The first group organized by the committee departed in Sivan 1946, and most of the Chassidim crossed the border during the summer months of that year. In the months of Elul and Tishrei, small groups traveled, and the secret police arrested some of the border crossing activists, and the committee's activities gradually dwindled. However, in Cheshvan 1947, the committee resumed operations, and on 9 Kislev, another group departed, through which hundreds of Chassidim crossed the border, and following this successful escape, three more groups departed.

Funding the Operations[edit | edit source]

In order to fund the operations, very large sums of money were needed. With the organization of the actual departure, a Beis Din of twenty-three rabbis from prominent Chassidim was established again in the city of Lvov. They ruled that everyone crossing the border must leave all their possessions to benefit the smuggling committee's operations.

Additionally, the Chabad philanthropist Reb Cheikel Chanin deposited two million rubles with Reb Nissan Nemenov before leaving Russia for the benefit of the Temimim students and yeshiva staff, and several more suitcases loaded with his private money with Reb Mendel Futerfas. All the money was used for rescue needs, bribes, and forgery operations.

Reb Yisroel Noach Belnitsky, who served as an accountant in a government institution, also assisted in funding the escape operations by risking his life, stealing large sums of money from the government account and transferring them to the Chassidim.

Methods of Forgery[edit | edit source]

To equip the escapees with forged documents, operations focused on three areas:

Obtaining original identity documents of Polish citizens who died in Russia, adapting the documents for Anash, and memorizing document details for border crossing inspections
Creating forged documents with fictitious names and details
Arranging fictitious marriages between Polish citizens and Russian citizens, and registering people as family members

The "Eshalons" (Train Transports)[edit | edit source]

1946[edit | edit source]

4th of Sivan - The train continued until the destination station near Wroclaw, arriving on 21st of Sivan. Among the Chassidim who traveled on this train: Reb Michoel Teitelbaum and Reb Dov Berish Rosenberg.
15th of Av - The train arrived at the "Przemysl" destination station, where the escapees waited for additional Chassidim to gather, and together continued by train to the refugee center in Lodz. According to what is known, this is the train on which Em HaMalchus Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson traveled. Among the Chassidim who traveled on this train: Reb Chaim Meir Garelik and his daughters Hadassah Perman and Yocheved Zalmanov and his son Reb Gershon Mendel Garelik, Reb Yisroel Shimon Kalmanson, Reb Gedaliah Korf, Reb Yaakov Yosef Raskin, and Reb Mordechai Shusterman.

According to Reb Berel Yunik's memory (Heichal HaBaal Shem Tov issue 36 page 124), the Rebbetzin's train departed on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul 1946.

1947[edit | edit source]

14th of Cheshvan - Passengers on this train first traveled to Zlatshov and from there went back to Lvov. The train departed on 14th of Cheshvan and arrived in Krakow, from where they traveled under the Frierdiker Rebbe's instructions to the refugee camp in Austria.
9th of Kislev - This train carried most of those who later established the settlement of Kfar Chabad, including the Chassidic families: Reb Efraim Zalman Sudkevitch's family, Reb Dovid Kook's family, Reb Avraham Levkivker's family, Reb Zelig Althaus's family, the Raskin family, the Gofin family, Reb Shlomo Maidanchik, and many more families of Chassidim who left Soviet Russia toward Poland and then continued to Czechoslovakia, from there to Austria, and from there in the following summer to France until 1949 when they established the first Chassidic settlement in the Holy Land - Kfar Chabad. It is told in the Rebbe's name that on that day, the Frierdiker Rebbe sat in his room and recited Shiras HaYam devotedly again and again, until he sighed with relief saying quietly: "Boruch Hashem, they crossed, they crossed, enough". The next day a telegram was received that they had safely crossed the Russian border and arrived in Przemysl, Poland.
19th of Kislev - The train carried a group of two hundred and fifty Chassidim, including the Mashpia Reb Yisroel Noach Belnitsky and Reb Moshe Levertov.
9th of Teves - The Eshalon departed at three after midnight, carrying five hundred Chassidim. The Chassidim bribed the train driver and got off at Krakow station instead of continuing to the final station. Among the passengers: Reb Yechezkel Brod, Reb Leibel Motchkin, and Reb Yisroel Neveler.
24th of Teves - The final group, containing 200 families, including Reb Chanan Levin and his family.

Border Closure and Arrest of Leaders in Russia[edit | edit source]

By the end of the winter months of 1947, all borders were closed, and in additional border cities like Baranovitch and Vilna, the secret police closed all escape routes.

Simultaneously, a thorough investigation was launched targeting the main escape organizers, and all committee members who remained within Russia's borders were arrested within several weeks, except for R' Mendel Futerfas, who was only arrested when he attempted to cross the border himself with Rabbi Shmuel Notik and others using a Polish passport at the Primishlan train station.

The arrested chassidim admitted to the actions attributed to them but did not incriminate additional chassidim, only those who had already left Russia's borders or those who had been previously caught and exiled to Siberia.

The Lvov Case[edit | edit source]

In the following years, the KGB conducted waves of arrests throughout the Soviet Union, leading to the arrest of dozens of chassidim connected to the Lvov case, with most being sentenced to exile. Some chassidim who were already in exile were brought back to central Russia for questioning about the Lvov case and then returned to exile, like R' Mendel Futerfas.

Regarding the later Lvov case developments, it was documented in several sources, and in 2023, documents from the Lvov case were published on Chabad websites.

The Chernovitz Exit[edit | edit source]

The "Chernovitz Exit" took place in 1949, when Chabad chassidim who hadn't succeeded in leaving during the "Great Escape" attempted to exit through the city of Chernovitz. This escape attempt failed and ended with the arrest of both organizers and escapees.

Displaced Persons Camps in Europe[edit | edit source]

After successfully crossing the border through illegal means, many chassidim aspired to make their way to the United States to reunite with the Rebbe and be in his presence. However, the matter was delayed since anash did not have entry visas to the United States.

The main transit stations where chassidim concentrated while trying to obtain entry permits to the free countries were in the cities of Lodz (Poland) and Prague (Czechoslovakia).

Following the directive of the Frierdiker Rebbe to settle in areas under United States government control, many chassidim made their way to the displaced persons camp in Pocking, which was under American military control at the time, and waited there for an extended period to learn where and how they would continue.

During the Pocking period, the Frierdiker Rebbe's son-in-law, Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary, was specially sent to them to encourage their spirits and bring them regards from the Rebbe. Additionally, Rabbi Binyamin Eliyahu Gorodetzky, who had already traveled to the United States and returned as director of the European Refugee Office, began working on behalf of the chassidim.

Since efforts to obtain mass entry permits to the United States failed, the Frierdiker Rebbe instructed to focus efforts on transferring all chassidic families to Paris.

Smaller groups concentrated in refugee camps: 'Ebensee', 'Salzburg', 'Wegscheid', 'Steyr', and 'Hallein' in Austria, in Paris, France, and in Antwerp, Belgium.

Extensive spiritual activities were carried out in the camps according to our Rebbeim's instructions. In Pocking camp, Chabad educational institutions were established - Yeshivas Tomchei Temimim and Beis Rivkah, with smaller branches of Tomchei Temimim and Beis Rivkah established in other displaced persons camps. The Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe maintained contact with the chassidim in the displaced persons camps and assisted them greatly both materially and spiritually, through guidance and direction, and also sent them shluchim and supplies.

Among those who were active in the camps was Rabbi Zalman Levin, who worked in a camp in Italy together with Rabbi Yaakov Pless and Reb Zusha the Partisan. They worked to secure an appropriate place for a shul, organized davening, Torah shiurim, activities with the local children, and everything possible to care for in that place.

After staying several years in the displaced persons camps, many continued their journey to Eretz Hakodesh (which received official recognition from the nations of the world at that time), and in 1949 the Frierdiker Rebbe instructed to establish Kfar Chabad for them.

Detailed documentation of everything that occurred in the displaced persons camps was published in the book "The Exodus from Russia" by Rabbi Eliyahu Matusof and Rabbi Shneur Zalman Berger.

The Rebbe Visits Anash in Paris[edit | edit source]

Extended article – The Rebbe's Visit to Paris

A photograph from the Rebbe's first farbrengen during his visit to Paris in 1947

The Rebbe's mother, Rebbetzin Chana, was also among the chassidim who escaped across the Russian borders in 1946 and wandered together with other chassidim until she reached Paris.

On 25 Adar Rishon 1947, the Rebbe traveled to Paris to stay with his mother and take her with him to the United States. During the two months the Rebbe stayed in Paris, he encouraged the spirits of the chassidim who had arrived there from Russia, farbrenged with them, and demanded from them to endeavor with all their ability to connect additional Yidden to the Rebbe.