The Latvian border
Anyone who pretends to have an interest in the history of Chabad should pick up this book: Rescued from the Reich: How One of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe. By Bryan Mark Rigg.
Some interesting snippets from the book:
1930:
1939:
Page 128 of the book describes the transit of RaYaTZ through Berlin escaping from Warsaw with Ernst Bloch and his family:
At the train station, Bloch's group again attracted the attention of the authorities. An army officer questioned him as to why Jews had been issued first-class tickets. Bloch or one of his men may have told him that the Jews were traveling under diplomatic protection and then said a few other things that caused him to leave without further questioning." Sitting in a train full of Nazi officials and military personnel made the Jews uncomfortable. One can only wonder what they felt as they crossed the border into the Greater German Reich and passed through towns bedecked with swastika flags. This was not their world. As one Lubavitcher described it, they were now in the "very heart of the evil Nazi kingdom." On 15 December, Bloch brought the Rebbe and his group to Berlin, where they stayed one night at the Jewish Federation. They probably picked up the visas there that would ensure their escape. The next day, they boarded another train, again in a first-class cabin, for Riga, accompanied by their German escorts and delegates from the Latvian embassy.
When asked why Jews were traveling in the first-class section of the train, a "German officer," most likely Bloch, was reported to give the same response as earlier, that they were traveling on diplomatic orders and should be left alone. At the Latvian border, the Germans bade the Jews farewell. It was probably the last time Bloch saw the Rebbe. As they left German soil, the Rebbe and his group rejoiced. "We felt so good once we reached the Latvian border," Barry Gourary says. On its way to Riga, the train stopped at Kovno (Kaunas), where several of the Rebbe's followers met the train and danced with joy as he arrived. He had returned to his world.
1943:
Some interesting snippets from the book:
1930:
1939:
Page 128 of the book describes the transit of RaYaTZ through Berlin escaping from Warsaw with Ernst Bloch and his family:
At the train station, Bloch's group again attracted the attention of the authorities. An army officer questioned him as to why Jews had been issued first-class tickets. Bloch or one of his men may have told him that the Jews were traveling under diplomatic protection and then said a few other things that caused him to leave without further questioning." Sitting in a train full of Nazi officials and military personnel made the Jews uncomfortable. One can only wonder what they felt as they crossed the border into the Greater German Reich and passed through towns bedecked with swastika flags. This was not their world. As one Lubavitcher described it, they were now in the "very heart of the evil Nazi kingdom." On 15 December, Bloch brought the Rebbe and his group to Berlin, where they stayed one night at the Jewish Federation. They probably picked up the visas there that would ensure their escape. The next day, they boarded another train, again in a first-class cabin, for Riga, accompanied by their German escorts and delegates from the Latvian embassy.
When asked why Jews were traveling in the first-class section of the train, a "German officer," most likely Bloch, was reported to give the same response as earlier, that they were traveling on diplomatic orders and should be left alone. At the Latvian border, the Germans bade the Jews farewell. It was probably the last time Bloch saw the Rebbe. As they left German soil, the Rebbe and his group rejoiced. "We felt so good once we reached the Latvian border," Barry Gourary says. On its way to Riga, the train stopped at Kovno (Kaunas), where several of the Rebbe's followers met the train and danced with joy as he arrived. He had returned to his world.
1943:
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 12:43 PM
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