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Letter handwritten and signed by R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski. Vilna, 19th Shevat [January 29] 1940. Addressed to R. Yechezkel Abramsky, a rabbi in London and his close associate. He begins by writing of the problems with mail during the war: "The entire duration of the war, I didn't receive a single direct letter, except for one letter from our friend the head rabbi of the Beit Din of Kovno [the Devar Avraham], whereas I wrote to you several times". The letter addresses the rescue of the yeshivas that were exiled to Vilna and Lithuania at the outbreak of World War II. R. Chaim Ozer tells him of the activities of Mr. A. M. Keiser of England, R. Abramsky's emissary to save the rabbis and yeshivas: "From R. A. M. Keiser, 5,000 was received for the Mir and Kletsk yeshivas, in addition to 10,000 to distribute to all the yeshivas, a total of 1,250 for the Rabbi of Brisk, and a total of 1,250 for the Yeshiva Committee, and also… for the family of R. Baruch Dov…". "As you know, all the yeshivas gathered here, except now the Refugee Committee saw fit to take many of them out to the rural towns, and in general, city life is hard for yeshivas. So the Mir yeshiva left for Kėdainiai, the Kletsk yeshiva is about to leave for Jonava, the Kamenets yeshiva to Raseiniai, the yeshiva of R. E. Wasserman to Trakai and more. There is no support for an adult kollel of fifty families who are great in Torah, and for about fifty families of rabbis. There has also been a group founded of dear youths attending daily lectures by our friend R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, and he wishes this to be a permanent institution… At the moment I am doing whatever is possible that he not lack anything, and I give him the allowance that I receive…". R. Chaim Ozer goes on to mention a telegram he had received from Manchester indicating that it was unknown in England that all the yeshivas had come to Vilna and Lithuania, and so he asks that this be publicized in the English newspapers. After the signature, "Your friend, esteeming and respecting you, seeking your welfare, Chaim Ozer Grodzinski", there are several more lines (in black ink) on the efforts to transfer the yeshivas to Eretz Israel, and on R. Hertzog's part in the matter. In the margins of the letter (on the side) are several more lines handwritten and signed by his relative R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (who signs with his initials) – confidant, scribe and secretary of R. Chaim Ozer. R. Chaim Ozer Grodzinski (1863-1940) was a foremost rabbi of his generation and leader of European Jewry. He was the son of R. David Shlomo Grodzinski, Rabbi of Iwye. He was renowned from his childhood for his exceptional brilliance. He entered the Volozhin yeshiva at the young age of 11, and became a disciple of R. Chaim of Brisk. At the age of 24, he was appointed rabbi and posek of Vilna, succeeding his father-in-law R. Eliyahu Eliezer Grodnansky, a posek in Vilna (son- in-law of R. Yisrael Salanter). He assumed the yoke of public leadership from a young age, and his opinion was conclusive on all public issues which arose in the Diaspora for close to fifty years. At the beginning of World War II, at R. Chaim Ozer's instruction, many yeshivas fled Poland, which had been conquered by the Germans and Russians, to Vilna and other cities in independent Lithuania. At the time R. Chaim Ozer assisted the leaders of the wandering yeshivas while taking care of their sustenance, doing everything to provide for their needs. The exiles to Vilna included R. Yitzchak Ze'ev Soloveitchik, the Brisker Rav (mentioned in the present letter), who reached Vilna with some of his family members and students, who escaped and immigrated with him to Jerusalem in 1941. The recipient of this letter, R. Yechezkel Abramsky (1886-1976), was a confidant and agent of R. Chaim Ozer of Vilna ever since developing close ties with him in his youth while studying under his influence in Vilna. In winter of 1806, the "prodigy of Masty" Yechezkel Abramsky was forced to leave the Telshe yeshiva and flee to Vilna (which was then under Polish control) to avoid conscription to the Russian army. In Vilna he was accepted into the Ramailes yeshiva and joined the elite class of students who listened to the advanced lectures of R. Chaim Ozer (based on Melech BeYofyo, pp. 29-33). While subsequently serving as Rabbi of Smilavichy and Slutsk, he served often as R. Chaim Ozer's agent in various communal affairs. R. Abramsky delivered the manuscript of Part I of his Chazon Yechezkel from Slutsk to his teacher R. Chaim Ozer in Vilna, who was involved in its publication in Vilna, 1925, through his confidant R. Aharon Dov Alter Voronovsky (R. Abramsky's wife's cousin). When R. Abramsky was arrested by the Soviets and sent to Siberia in 1930, R. Chaim Ozer made every possible effort to release him. After his release in 1931, R. Chaim Ozer and the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch joined with R. Abramsky to initiate the project of sending Pesach flour and food packages to Jews under the Bolshevik regime in Russia. Likewise, R. Abramsky was active on missions on behalf of R. Chaim Ozer for yeshivas in Poland and Lithuania and for rabbis of Europe. They also cooperated on many public issues, including the struggles for Jewish marriage and against the anti-Semitic laws in Germany and Europe forbidding Jewish shechitah, and on rescue activity for rabbis and yeshivas who fled as refugees to Vilna at the beginning of WWII. The present letter reflects some of their cooperation to rescue and provide for rabbis and yeshiva students in exile, who continued to study Torah even under those harsh conditions. [1] leaf. Official stationery. 29 cm. Good-fair condition. Light stains and folding marks. Minor tears to folds.