From there he was smuggled out of the country in the fall of 1907 by way of Finland (where he briefly met Lenin and other leading Social Democratic émigrés). For the next eight years, he lived mainly in France and Belgium, where he worked variously as a loader for blast furnaces in an arms factory in Nancy, France, as a hauler and coal-hewer in mines in Belgium, as a metal fitter and electrical fitter in French locomotive and car factories (including Renault), as a stoker and coalman on ocean liners, and in a variety of jobs in a number of other factories.
In the fall of 1907, he was smuggled out of the country through Finland, where he briefly met Lenin and other Social Democratic exiles. For eight years, he lived primarily in France and Belgium, working as a loader for blast furnaces in an arms factory in Nancy; hauling coal and mining work in Belgian mines; metal fitting and electrical work in French locomotive and car factories (including Renault); stoking and handling coal on ocean liners; and performing various jobs in other factories.