The Previous Rebbe related that when he was in the Soviet prison, he resolved that his jailers would not have any effect on him or on his Jewish practice. In his mind, they had no authority over him at all. It was as if they simply did not exist.
His resolve did not weaken even after he was thrown into a dungeon for 24 hours. Slimy mud coated the walls and the floor swarmed with rats and other crawling creatures. There was no place lean, much less sit.
He was transferred back to his cell where on the 1st of Tammuz at 11 in the morning, his guards came with tea. They ordered him in Russian to stand. The Rebbe answered in Yiddish that he was not going to comply.
The guards warned him that If he did not stand, they would beat him. The Rebbe answered, “So?” [Nu?]
The guards then fulfilled their threat and beat him unmercifully.
Afterwards Lulav from the Jewish section of the Secret Police, which dealt with Jewish “counter revolutionaries”. Lulav, who incidentally was from a Chassidic family, had led the raid in which the Rebbe was arrested.
He said “Rebbe, why are you starting up with them? Why are you fighting them? You must understand that when you are commanded to stand, you must stand!”
The Rebbe gave no reply.
“Answer me!” Lulav commanded.
The Rebbe did not answer.
Later, a third cohort of guards, entered the cell. Again, the Rebbe was ordered to stand and again he refused. A Jewish guard struck the Rebbe and said in Russian, “We will teach you a lesson.”
The Rebbe answered in Yiddish, “I am not sure who will teach who.”
A few days later, the Rebbe was escorted into a prison office and told that his sentence had been commuted to three years of exile in the remote town of Kostroma.
