The Commandant’s Papers

Rav Gedalya Moshe Goldman was imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp, an experience that was horrible and back-breaking. One Shabbos the commandant summoned the Rebbe and another Jew, a frail old man, to his office and told them both that they were free to go. All they had to do was sign some documents and they would be released. Rav Gedalya decided that he could not desecrate the holy Shabbos, and so he refused to sign.

The commandant was furious. He screamed and threatened that because of this refusal Rav Gedalya would never be released. The Rebbe was adamant that he would not sign. Concluding that Rav Gedalya was insane, the commandant turned to the old man and asked him to sign. The old man also refused. The commandant said that the two Jews would rot in the camp, and he took back the papers.

Before he could take the forms away, Rav Gedalya Moshe said that he would sign the papers for the older man. He explained that he himself was young and strong and could survive in the camp, but the other man was old and weak and would not survive.

This act of selflessness so impressed the commandant that he allowed them both to leave without signing.