Tammuz 12 is the birthday the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn of Lubavitch (1880-1950).
47 years later, in 1927, he was officially granted release from his sentence of exile to Kastroma in the interior of Russia.
27 days earlier, the Rebbe had been arrested by agents of the GPU and the Yevsektzia (“Jewish Section” of the Communist Party) for his activities to preserve Judaism throughout the Soviet empire and sentenced to death, G-d forbid.
International pressure forced the Soviets to commute the sentence to exile and, subsequently, to release him completely.
The actual release took place on Tammuz 13, and Tammuz 12-13 is celebrated as a “festival of liberation” by the Chabad-Lubavitch community.
The Avner Institute presents a unique photo of the Previous Rebbe from Poland in the year 1933.
With special thanks to the Gal family of Petah Tikva, Israel, for the photo.
Dedicated by Isser and Lea New, Bal Harbour, Florida, in memory of their grandfather Reb Yeshaya Aryeh ben Menashe Treitel obm.
(It’s Kostroma, not Kastroma)
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2993/jewish/Chapter-X-Exile-to-Kastroma.htm