At the outbreak of the Second World War in September, 1939 (5699), the Rebbe refused every opportunity to leave the inferno of Warsaw until he had taken care of his seminaries and done everything possible for his suffering brethren in the Polish capital. He remained there throughout the terrible siege and bombardment of Warsaw and its final capitulation to the Nazi invaders.
Even during this time he managed to evacuate a great many of his students to safer zones, and all the American boys who had been studying at the Lubavitch seminary at Otwosk were safely transported back to their homes in the United States.
Today in History – The Friediker Rebbe Arrives in the U.S.A.
At the outbreak of the Second World War in September, 1939 (5699), the Rebbe refused every opportunity to leave the inferno of Warsaw until he had taken care of his seminaries and done everything possible for his suffering brethren in the Polish capital. He remained there throughout the terrible siege and bombardment of Warsaw and its final capitulation to the Nazi invaders.
Even during this time he managed to evacuate a great many of his students to safer zones, and all the American boys who had been studying at the Lubavitch seminary at Otwosk were safely transported back to their homes in the United States.
His courage and fearlessness (he had a Sukkah built and observed the mitzvah of “dwelling in the Sukkah” at the height of the bombardment) were a source of inspiration to the suffering Jewish community of Warsaw.
With the cooperation of the Department of State in Washington, the Rebbe’s friends and followers worked incessantly to arrange his journey from Warsaw to New York. Finally, the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his family were offered safe conduct to Berlin and thence to Riga-Latvia was still neutral at that time. Once there, the Rebbe continued to help the numerous refugees who had succeeded in escaping from Poland to Lithuania and Latvia.
On Adar Sheni 9, 5700 (March 19, 1940) the Rebbe arrived in New York on the S.S. Drottningholm. He was enthusiastically welcomed by thousands of followers and many representatives of various organizations, as well as civic authorities.
