When they were learning Mussar in Bialystok Yeshiva, one of the Menahalim remarked that he’d be surprised if millionaires wouldn’t result from so much Mussar on Bitachon. The war broke out, and virtually all Novardok Yeshivos were destroyed by the Nazi’s, Y'mach Sh'mam. R' Gershon Liebman Zatzal survived the war, and started a Yeshiva in Fublaines. The Yeshiva was as poor as you can imagine.
The Madrega in Ruchaniyus was unbelievable. The Hasmada and the Yiras Shamayim and the Mussar. People have told me how this place was “on fire”, and was Mamash Kodesh Kodoshim. R' Gershon Zatzal ran it, and he had great Hasagos (standards/ambitions).
The poverty was unbelievable. Novardokers are soldiers who can tolerate lack of Gashmiyus, and to an extent, they desire a simple lifestyle. But sometimes you actually have no food! A certain R' Sayagh Shlita was there the day that they had no food. He told me that R' Gershon Zatzal said that he had Bitachon that they’d have a great supper. Fublains was a tiny village composed of a few blocks, and they were nowhere near civilization. That night, a truck came to them mysteriously. This truck was on the way to a frum school to bring them food, and it got lost and ended up in Fublains. They said that they didn’t know what to do with the food, and they might as well give it to the Fublains Yeshiva. They all received a sumptuous meal, just like R' Gershon said!
When I was first told about R' Gershon Zatzal, he was in Bussières, and then he was a multimillionaire! They were “rolling in dough” Mamash, and they sent me a free ticket to visit them. When R' Gershon visited Bais Medrash Gavoha, he said a Shmuess in the Bais Medrash. afterwards, he went into the office with R' Shneur Kotler Zatzal. Before he left BMG, he left R' Shneur a $1,000 check!
R' Shneur Zatzal said: “This is a historical check”. No one ever heard of one Mosad giving a check to another Mosad! And they say that R' Gershon was supporting two Mosdos; one in Eretz Yisroel, and one in America. And he was spreading his own branches all over France. I visited several of them. They had big giant buildings and were run very professionally. Novardok did major Kiruv all over France. And R' Gershon never knew a word of French.