The Soviets charged the refugees exorbitant fees for the exit visas and travel expenses. The Joint and the Vaad Hatzalah provided funds for these costs, with Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz investing herculean efforts to ensure the Mir contingent were able to fund their escape. Many refugees sold their personal belongings. They then embarked on a 10-12 day train journey on the Trans-Siberian Railroad across the vast expanses of the Soviet Union, arriving in the port city of Vladivostok. From there the Sea of Japan was crossed and the refugees settled temporarily in Kobe and Yokohama.
The refugees received a generally warm reception from the local Japanese as well as the small local Jewish community. When it became evident that Curacao wasn’t going to be practical as a final destination, Japanese and Jewish activists interceded with the Japanese Imperial government to extend the refugee’s visas. As a result, the refugee community was able to remain in Japan for several months.
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Tourbites: Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin
Marriage Age in Jewish Eastern Europe of the 19th Century
The Last Nazarite: The Life of Rav Dovid Cohen, ’Rav Hanazir’
Tourbites: The Chozeh of Lublin
Aleksander the Great Chassidic Dynasty
Holy Crown in Brownsville: The Life & Times of Rav Moshe Rosen
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Jerusalem Odyssey: Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap
The US & The Holocaust: A Review
Founder of a Dynasty: The Bais Halevi
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Organizing Orthodoxy: The Story of the Agudath Harabonim Part I
Our Grandfathers Came to this Land
Feivels Going West: Jews in the Wild West
Chasam Sofer Part III: A Pressburg Situation
Chasam Sofer Part II: Old Traditions, New Message
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