The 28th of Sivan (3) - Safe Arrival in the US

00:01 The Hamsechen continuation to the earlier installments where we discussed the story of the 28th of Sivan, the events which led up to the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin's safe arrival in the United States. We continue now with installment number three. While they worked tirelessly to ensure a safe passage for the previous Rebbe and those who were with him in Latvia, Agudas Sede Chabad was hesitant at this time to pressure the State Department to grant the Rebbe, the son-in-law, a special visa. There were some discrepancies between the information they previously provided in the regular visa application and what they included now in the special visa. In the routine application the Rebbe filled out in Paris, he was listed as a qualified electrical engineer. In the special visa, he was described as a noted Torah scholar. They feared that these contradictions would come to light and might delay or even, chas v'shalom, jeopardize the entire application, including that of the previous Rebbe, who was then in an ex-extremely dangerous situation where immediate departure was crucial. After receiving word that the previous Rebbe received his special visa and can finally leave Europe, the attorney for Agudas Sede Chabad, Mr. Henry F. Butler, began to actively request the visas for the remaining members of the family. Among those who had not yet received a special visa with the previous Rebbe was his son-in-law, the Rebbe, and his daughter, the Rebbetzin, the previous son-in-law, and his daughter living in France, and the previous Rebbe's youngest daughter, Rebbetzin Sheina, and her husband,

02:09 Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hakehen Orenstein, who had remained in Poland. In the spring of 1940, seeing that Germany was poised to attack France, the Rebbe signed up to join in the reserves of the French army. This allowed the Rebbe the relative safety of having proper identification in Paris at the time. More importantly, his enlistment ID eventually assisted him in his escape from Paris to Vichy. On June 2nd, 1940, Mr. Butler met with representatives of the State Department. They informed him that the request for a special visa for the Rebbe was forwarded from the American Consulate in Riga, Latvia, to the Consulate in France. From there, it, it was to be sent to Paris. At the same time, the Rebbe informed the Maskirus, the secretariat of the previous Rebbe, that re-the request for a special visa had arrived in Paris, but there were some complications holding up the issuing of a visa. Three days later, June 5th, the American Consulate telegraphed to Washington its decision regarding the Rebbe's special visa, and they wrote, "Visa denied." They had rejected the request, citing the contradiction between the description of the Rebbe as a great Torah scholar and his own application, which listed him merely as an engineer. The attorney immediately requested evidence from Agudas Sede Chabad that notwithstanding the fact that the Rebbe had an engineering degree, he is indeed a Jewish scholar of repute, deserving of a special visa. Over the next few days, this sense of urgency deepened. The Nazis, yimach shmom, entered and conquered Paris. A

04:25 French general offered the Rebbe his villa in the suburbs of Paris as a safe haven until the situation improved. The Rebbe, having seen firsthand how ruthlessly the Nazis operated, declined and chose to flee to Vichy. Interesting to note that when the Rebbe's biography was prepared and, uh, to be published, the Rebbe reviewed it, and there was a sentence that cited that the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin are running to Vichy. The Rebbe crossed out the word "borchim", which means running, and instead the Rebbe wrote, "Matikim", they are moving merely to Vichy, which this shows the gein yankef, the pride, the Yiddish pride, that a Yid goes from one place to another, he doesn't run. The reason that the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin went to Vichy, because at that time it was still unoccu-occupied by the German army. As a precaution, until they will be able to move from Paris, they moved to a different apartment. This indeed was a lifesaver. For two days after their move, the Nazis came to the old address, looking specifically for the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin. A few days before Shavuos, at great personal risk, the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin managed to board one of the last trains leaving Paris, successfully evading the German patrols. They arrived in Vichy on Erev Shavuos. They remained in Vichy for approximately two months. They then moved to Nice. Nice, which is a co-coastal resort in the southern part of France. Despite the fact that Nice was occupied by the Italian fascist, uh, government, who

06:48 were allies of Germany, it was relatively safe for Jews. At the end of Av, Mr. Butler requested that the visa application be forwarded to the American Consulate in Nice. Three weeks later, they received the good tidings. The State Department informed Mr. Butler that the consul in Nice intended to give the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin a special visa. We will, im yirtza Hashem, continue in the next installment.