It’s Life or Death. Take the Money and Run.

Last week on Methods of Prosperity

In 1940 Nazi forces advanced through Eastern Europe. 200 Polish Jews sought help at the Japanese consulate in Lithuania, hoping to escape. Japan and Nazi Germany had an alliance. Japan’s policy allowed Jewish refugees to access its territories. Most countries, including the U.S., turned them away. Chiune Sugihara was Japan’s Consul General in Lithuania. He defied orders from Tokyo. Sugihara issued visas to these refugees, risking his career and reputation. His actions led to his demotion and eventual expulsion from the foreign ministry. Still, Sugihara continued issuing visas. Japanese superiors reassigned him. Sugihara saved an estimated 6,000 Jewish lives. His motivation stemmed from a sense of shared humanity. Sugihara’s upbringing placed him in a household that welcomed and cared for guests. That affected him. Israel later honored him as Righteous Among the Nations for his courageous efforts. The story of Sugihara sets up the next section of this newsletter. The son of a Jewish couple from Poland who Sugihara helped was a man named Sam Zell. The following is his story.

Part 73. Sam Zell (continued).

You can find this week’s TL;DR here.

Key Lessons:

• Avoid having a false sense of security.

• Have assets in more than one place.

• Have plenty of emergency funds.

• Don’t dismiss extreme scenarios.

• Don’t rely on mainstream media.

• Don’t ignore warning signs.

• Have a secret code.

Now there’s a collectible version of this newsletter! Methods of Prosperity newsletter number 36 is available to collect as of November 1, 2024. If you’re so inclined you can permanently own it!

Anti-semitism increased in 1937. On November 9–10, 1938, Nazis unleashed a series of pogroms against the Jewish population. This was in Germany and recently incorporated territories. We know this terrible event as Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass). Shattered glass littered the streets. Nazis vandalized and destroyed Jewish-owned businesses, synagogues, and homes.

At 34 years old, Sam Zell’s father escaped his home town in Poland. He led his wife and infant daughter across two continents to safety. Sam’s parents grew up in middle-class Polish homes. Sam Zell’s parents were Ruchla and Berek Zielonka. They later changed their names to Rochelle and Bernard Zell. Both were from devout and educated Jewish families. His parents were distant cousins. They married in 1936. Sam’s father bought and sold grain throughout eastern Europe. He understood geopolitics and paid attention to current events. Polish government censored radio, so Sam’s father relied on his short-wave radio for news. He listened to reports from Germany, Britain, and America. He was aware of the growing danger for Jews in Poland. Many of his friends and family dismissed the possibility of extreme scenarios.

It was time to take action. Sam’s mother sewed jewelry into the lining of their clothes to use as currency during their escape. The couple knew they would need more funds than they could carry. At the time, Poland had outlawed the transfer of assets out of the country. Those who the government suspected of economic crimes often disappeared. Sam’s father took an enormous risk by making a clandestine transfer of money to a bank in Tel Aviv. Back then, Tel Aviv was within the British Mandate of Palestine.

To avoid detection, he requested that the bank would send no confirmation of the deposit. A year later, around Kristallnacht, in late 1938, he made the final decision to leave. But first, he needed to establish a broader economic base outside of Poland. The plan was to confirm that the funds he’d sent to the Tel Aviv bank were available. He would have those funds sent to a bank in the USA. A Jewish agency to help Jews move their assets out of Poland would help him replace the funds at the Tel Aviv bank.

To make the transfers, he needed his wife’s help, and they would have to be careful. He went to Tel Aviv for three weeks on a tourist visa. He wrote his wife every day, to make his communication back home seem commonplace. The Polish police intercepted every letter coming or going out of Poland. So he gave her inconspicuous clues. Each of his letters emphasized the number 50. She knew that was code for 50,000 złotych, which was equivalent to around $10,000. They kept all of their money inside the house.

One day, she received a typical envelope. Inside was a small piece of torn paper. On it were only a few words. It was odd, but she knew it was significant. She didn’t know what it meant. Then, during the last week of her husband’s trip, a stranger showed up on their doorstep unannounced. He claimed to be the president of the Anglo-Palestine bank. He showed her a carbon copy of the small, torn paper. So she gave the stranger 50,000 złotych. He could have stolen the money. He could have been the police. There was no way of knowing he was honest, but it all worked out. Sam’s father returned, having accomplished his mission. There was money is his account in Tel Aviv. The bank transferred money to a bank in New York. Signatures of both him and his wife’s name were on the accounts.

Sam’s mother and father warned their other family members. They refused to leave. They ignored the rising anti-Semitism. They chose to ride it out. Sam’s father hesitated to leave them all behind. Then on August 24, 1939, he was traveling east on a business trip to Warsaw. His train made a stop at the half way point. He stepped off the train to buy a newspaper. He noticed the headline. Germany and the Soviet Union had signed a non-aggression pact. He knew with certainty that Germany would attack Poland. Realizing they were in danger, he crossed over to the opposite track to board the train home. As soon as he arrived, he told his wife to pack what she could carry. They boarded the 4:00 train that afternoon. He took his wife and daughter to a relative’s house 75 miles away, and then returned to their hometown. He tried to convince his friends and relatives there that it was time to leave. Again, they refused. So Sam’s parents and sister set out alone on a two year odyssey.

The Germans invaded Poland at dawn. Sam’s father caught the last train out of town before the Nazis bombed the railroad tracks. The family headed across Poland into Lithuania. They were part of an early wave of refugees. In Lithuania, Sam’s father sold grain to local merchants. His wife wanted to settle there. Sam’s father knew they had to get out of Europe. Their ultimate destination would either be Palestine or the USA. But first they needed to pass through Russia and Japan, on their way to Curaçao. They needed travel visas from Japan.

A Jewish refugee delegation included Sam’s father. It was July 1940 when they amassed at the Japanese consulate in Lithuania. It was their last chance. The man behind the consulate door was Chiune Sugihara. 

To be continued…

I like you,

– Sean Allen Fenn

Methods of Prosperity newsletter is intended to share ideas and build relationships. To become a billionaire, one must first be conditioned to think like a billionaire. To that agenda, this newsletter studies remarkable people in history who demonstrated what to do (and what not to do). Your feedback is welcome. For more information about the author, please visit seanallenfenn.com/faq.