The rescue of the Mir Yeshiva and its students during WWII is a well-documented story of an endless string of providence that allowed the yeshiva, almost in its entirety, to survive the war, escaping Lithuania via Russia to Japan and then Shanghai. A letter I acquired recently gives some insight in to the dynamics that allowed for such an extraordinary feat to be accomplished. The letter was written in May 1941, a few months after the arrival of the yeshiva students in Kobe, Japan. The route became possible when the Dutch Consul in Kovno, Jan Zwartendijk, issued permits to enter Curacao, an island in the Caribbean Sea under Dutch authority, and the Japanese consul in Kovno, Semp Sugihara, gave permits to those “traveling to Curacao” to transit via Japan.
Written by Pinchas Schon, on behalf of the Mirrer Yeshiva Association in New York, and addressed to Rabbi Eliezer Silver, rav in Cincinnati and head of the Agudas Harabonim, it pleads for his assistance in the rescue efforts. At this point of time, Japan was not at war with the U.S., and Uncle Sam was sitting out the war on the sidelines. Japan’s pact with Italy and Nazi Germany a short time prior, and Japan’s attack and invasion of several South Eastern Countries, had put the U.S. and Japan relationship on a precarious ledge. The United States was aiding China financially and had placed an embargo on sending anything that might potentially be useful for the Japanese to Japan.
Despite the winds of war between the US and Japan and the ongoing Nazi horror, the aid committee trying to assist the yeshiva was intent on obtaining visas for the yeshiva to enter the United States. The letter requests help from Rabbi Eliezer Silver, alongside his efforts in Vaad Hatzalah, requesting financial aid as well as aid in securing the American visas and eventually paying for their travel to the States. Of note is the mention of sending 50 copies of Talmud Kiddushin to Kobe for use by the yeshiva students. It is unknown if this delivery ever reached its destination, as shipping and transit between the continents was nearly at a standstill at the time.
The visas did not materialize and the yeshiva was shortly after moved by the Japanese to Shanghai, China, then under their control. When the war ended in 1945, the yeshiva found itself stranded in Shanghai. It wasn’t until the end of the following year that they were able to leave, some heading to Israel and the balance to New York.
