Together with millions of others, the Rebbe and his wife Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka were uprooted from their home during World War II. Shortly after the Nazis rose to power, the Rebbe and the Rebbetzin moved from Berlin, where they had been living for several years, to Paris. They fled Paris in mid-1940 on one of the last trains before the German invasion, and arrived at Vichy, which served as a haven for fleeing Jews.

Vichy was under Italian rule, and the Italians were less Anti-Semitic than their German allies. Nevertheless, it was only relatively safe; life in any location in a Nazi Europe was dangerous and insecure for Jews.

The local hotels did not open their doors willingly to the helpless refugees. In order to enter a hotel, a guest had to prove that he possessed at least one hundred dollars. This was obviously way beyond the meager means of most refugees.

The Rebbe had a single one hundred dollar bill. He ventured out to the streets seeking needy refugees. Handing over the bill, he directed the refugee to the hotel at which he was staying. After the refugee was admitted, he slipped the bill back to the Rebbe unnoticed. The Rebbe returned to the streets with the ‘door-opening’ bill, seeking another ‘customer.’