Reb Binyamin Zev Deitsch zt'l, mashgiach of Yeshivas Ponovizh, told how he was saved from the Holocaust. When he was a bachur in Hungary, before War World Two, he and forty-nine other bachurim were drafted to the Hungarian army. The parents of the fifty children called an emergency meeting, to see what they could do to save their children. They decided to write a letter to a doctor who, for a price, was willing to write up false, medical reports for the fifty bachurim, claiming that they arent fitting to serve in the army.
Each of the parents pitched in to pay the high price. Reb Benyamin's parents, and
the parents of one other bachur, were wealthy, and paid a higher sum, to ascertain that their children would get the coveted documents.
The doctor promised hed send the documents in the mail. They anxiously waited for the letters, which only arrived on the morning the bachurim were supposed to sign up for the army.
To their horror, the doctor only wrote letters for forty-eight bachurim. Reb Binyamin and the son of the other wealthy family didnt receive exemption letters. (Ironically, it was the children of the wealthy parents who paid the most, who didnt get an exemption.)
Reb Binyamin and the other bachur had to flee to Eretz Yisrael. They had no time
to say good-bye to their families properly, and they didnt have time to prepare for their long trip either.
Reb Binyamin said, "I remember our sentiments that day when we escaped without saying good-bye to all our family members, and without preparing for the trip. We thought we were so unfortunate in comparison to our forty-eight comrades who remained home with their families. We arrived in Eretz Yisrael alone, two young bachurim having to fend for ourselves. It was a very difficult time for us. However, a few short years later, we realized that we were the fortunate ones. The Second World War raged and none of our friends survived. Only we survived, since we were in Eretz Yisrael..."
Reb Binyamin learned from this episode that even when things seem bad originally, they are always for the good. In retrospect, he was able to discern how everything was for his good.