In 1914 he became engaged to Toiba Liba Soloveitchik but the wedding was postponed due to his enlistment in the Russian army during World War I.

[3] In 1926, with the help of Jewish communist youth he had hosted in his home, he received exit visas to leave the Soviet Union for the United States of America.

En route to America he passed through Shanghai, China where Jewish community residents requested that he remain there and be appointed rabbi.

[4] Today the synagogue is the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum where there is an exhibit dedicated to Ashkenazi's life and tenure as chief rabbi.

[15] In 1949, after the majority of the refugees had left Shanghai and the Jewish community dwindled, Askenazi moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn.