After the Great Escape: How Lubavitch Rebuilt Torah Life in Paris
A historical account by Shmuel Super follows Lubavitcher refugees in postwar Paris through the reporting of Yiddish journalist Yitzchak Shmulevitsh, who watched them rebuild Torah and chinuch after years of displacement • Full Story, Photo
After escaping Soviet Russia and passing through displaced-persons camps, Lubavitcher Chassidim arrived in Paris carrying little in material possessions. Their first priorities included yeshivos, chinuch and the bonds that had sustained them through years of danger.
A historical account by Shmuel Super revisits the Paris years of 5707-5709 through the writing of Yitzchak Shmulevitsh, France correspondent for the Yiddish Forverts newspaper.
Shmulevitsh had encountered Lubavitcher Chassidim in Soviet exile and later in Central Asia. He admired their determination to keep Shabbos, learn Torah and help fellow Yidden despite the risks. In Paris, he saw that same dedication take a new form.
Rabbi Binyamin Gorodetzky, appointed by the Frierdiker Rebbe to direct aid and resettlement work, helped coordinate the refugees’ arrival and accommodations with assistance from the Joint Distribution Committee.
In Iyar 5707, a yeshiva was established in the Rothschild shul in Boulogne. Later that year, Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Kesselman arrived with a group of bochurim, who settled in Brunoy. Rabbi Nissan Nemanov and bochurim from Pocking joined them, helping establish the yeshiva’s new home.
The effort extended to girls’ chinuch as well. Shmulevitsh described children who had endured wandering and hardship, and were now learning, singing and looking toward a Jewish future.
The early arrivals also merited a meeting with the Rebbe, who was in Paris to greet his mother, Rebbetzin Chana, and accompany her to America. On Lag BaOmer 5707, the Rebbe farbrenged with the refugees at the Prima Hotel.
For many families, Paris was a stage on the way to a permanent home. Some later settled in Eretz Yisroel and helped found Kfar Chabad; others went to America or remained in France. Their yeshivos, schools and families became part of the foundation of postwar Lubavitch.
Across these accounts runs one theme: rebuilding did not wait until every uncertainty had passed. Torah learning and chinuch began while the refugees were still finding their feet.
Cover: original editorial graphic, not an archival photograph.
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