The parents of many of the boys who learned in the yeshiva did not even know the most basic information about where their children were. Certain parents not only did not know where the yeshiva was located, they did not even know their sons were in Samarkand!

Take, for example, the parents of Moshe Miller, a young man who came to Samarkand from Apsha in the Carpathian Mountains. They were sure that their son was working in Moscow. That was Moshe's original plan as well, but my brother Berel had convinced him to learn in the yeshiva. In order for his parents to remain oblivious of his true place of study, Moshe would give us his letters and we would send them to our friend Moshe Katzenelenbogen in Moscow who would forward them to the boy’s parents. His parents received his letters in envelopes sealed with the seal of the post office in Moscow, and they had no suspicions that in actuality their son was not working there at all.

Even the parents who lived in nearby Tashkent who knew that their sons were learning in Samarkand did not know any details about the yeshiva and its location. When I would travel to Tashkent for personal or communal reasons, I was obligated to visit the parents and give them regards from their sons, but I would only do so in the most ambiguous manner. I arrived at the parents’ house and ensured that only the father would be present during the conversation. I was worried that if the mother would be present, she would ask too many questions, and I would be unable to say anything at all. The father would only inquire if I had personally seen their son and when. They never asked me if they learned, and if yes, where they learned, with whom they learned, or where they ate and slept. They understood that if they asked too many questions, I would simply not deliver them regards the next time I was there.

Thinking back, I realize what self-sacrifice this entailed on the part of the parents. They willingly sent their child to a foreign city, not even knowing where their son was located, and as difficult as that was, they were still careful not to ask any "extra" questions!