Editing The Great Escape from Russia 1946 (section)

== The Frierdiker Rebbe's View on the Escape ==
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.