Upon the death of Yosef Leib Bloch in 1929, it was widely assumed that his oldest son, Rabbi Zalman Bloch would succeed his father as Rosh yeshiva of Telz, as was the custom in many communities.
This method is known as the Telzer Derekh, a unique analytical approach to Torah study.
Shortly thereafter, the yeshiva was forced to surrender its main building for use as a Red Army barracks.
The students remained in Telz, where they rented accommodation from local townsfolk.
On Tuesday July 15, 1941 (20th Tammuz), Nazi Einsatzgruppen and local Lithuanian sympathizers massacred the male population of Telz, including Bloch himself and the faculty of the yeshiva.