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Jewish Educational Media released a never-before-seen document in honor of the 70th anniversary of the U.S. arrival of the future Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, and Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, of righteous memory.

Uncovered recently by the research team working on a forthcoming book, The Rebbe’s Early Years, the Rebbe’s visa application for travel to America was filled out in Marseilles, France, in April 1941. The application and subsequent visa were signed by Vice Consul Myles Standish, who together with fellow Vice Consul Hiram Bingham IV used his diplomatic standing to help rescue thousands of Jews from the Nazis and their collaborators in France.

After receiving their ticket to freedom, the Rebbe and Rebbetzin fled France for Lisbon, Portugal, where they boarded the S.S. Serpa Pinto for the New World. They arrived at Pier 8 in Staten Island, N.Y., on the 28th day of the Hebrew month of Sivan in 1941.

In the making for more than 10 years, The Rebbe’s Early Years, by Rabbis Boruch Oberlander and Elkanah Shmotkin, presents more than 1,500 documents telling the full story of the Rebbe’s European life, from his birth in Ukraine to his arrival in the United States.