As part of our ongoing series about the Great Shanghai Escape, I had a conversation with my friend and collaborator Dovi Safier, who is a known expert on this topic, as well as having done some origin

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 herculea

Once one was in possession of a destination visa, came the most challenging phase of the escape applying for a Soviet exit visa. Applying for an exit visa from the communist paradise was potential

As thousands of Jewish refugees scrambled for Curacao visas and Japanese transit visas, many others were skeptic regarding the visa scheme, while others thought it a downright dangerous maneuver. No

The summer of 1940 brought a measure of desperation in the search for visas in order to escape the clutches of the Soviet Union. Two Dutch citizens stranded in Lithuania independently contacted the Du

With the Soviet occupation of Lithuania in the summer of 1940, the search for visas to destination countries turned into a desperate endeavor for thousands of refugees who wished to escape a life unde

In this special bonus episode of Jewish History Soundbites, Dovi Safier and Seforim Chatter host Nachi Weinstein join me in discussing our article in Mishpacha Magazine about Rav Yonah Minsker, the

As thousands of refugees streamed into Vilna in the fall of 1939, a humanitarian crisis ensued, with neither local authorities nor the local Jewish community capable of providing for the throngs of re

In this new series launched by Jewish History Soundbites, well explore the story of the escape to Shanghai from war torn Europe during the early stages of World War II. Among the thousands of Jewish

Jewish History Soundbites podcast is back after a long hiatus. Lots of great content, explorations of Jewish history and ongoing series will be posted on a consistent basis in the coming months. Stay