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“For His Unfortunate Relatives in Russia” – Autograph Letter of the Husiatyn Rebbe Written During World War II. Cheshvan [1944] - A brief but moving letter entirely in the handwriting and bearing the signature of Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Husiatyn, written on his personal calling card. Cheshvan 5705 [1944]. In the letter, the Rebbe warmly appeals on behalf of a Jew seeking assistance in sending food parcels and relief supplies to his “unfortunate relatives in Russia.” These few lines vividly reflect the desperate plight of Eastern European Jewry during the years of World War II and the efforts of family members to maintain contact with loved ones and provide them with food, clothing, and basic necessities. The letter was written during the final months of the war, when vast portions of European Jewry had already been destroyed and countless Jewish survivors were scattered throughout the Soviet Union under conditions of hunger, displacement, and severe deprivation. Appeals of this nature frequently reached the desks of leading rabbinic figures, who utilized their influence and personal connections to alleviate, even in a small way, the suffering of refugees and survivors. Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Husiatyn (1858–1949), one of the leading Rebbes of the Ruzhin dynasty in the twentieth century, immigrated to the Land of Israel and settled in Tel Aviv, where he became a prominent spiritual and communal leader. His home served as a center for counsel, blessing, and assistance to thousands of Jews in Palestine and abroad. His name is also associated with one of the most famous stories of the World War II era in the Land of Israel. In 1942, as the forces of General Erwin Rommel advanced through North Africa and the threat of a Nazi invasion loomed over the Jewish community in Palestine, widespread fear gripped the country. According to Hasidic tradition, the Rebbe traveled to the grave of Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar on the Mount of Olives, where he prayed fervently for the salvation of the Jewish community in the Holy Land. His followers regarded Rommel’s subsequent defeat and the turning of the military tide as a heavenly response to that prayer, and the episode became deeply embedded in Hasidic memory as an expression of the Rebbe’s concern for the welfare of the entire Jewish people in a moment of existential danger. Against this background, the present letter acquires special significance. Alongside his prayers and public efforts on behalf of the Jewish nation as a whole, we find the Rebbe personally attending to the needs of a single Jew seeking to rescue and support relatives trapped beyond the front lines of war. The document is a touching human testimony that reflects his character as both a spiritual leader and a man of extraordinary compassion, who viewed the suffering of the individual as inseparable from his responsibility toward the Jewish people as a whole. Entirely autograph, written on the Rebbe’s official personal calling card. Condition: Very good. Filing holes.