From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard from Uszer Wajntraub, Warsaw ghetto to Samuel B. Lubelchik, Bogota, June 1941

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard sent by Uszer Wajntraub from the Warsaw ghetto to Samuel B. Lubelchik in Bogota, Colombia, 29 June 1941. The postcard concerns the delivery of gorceries from Schwarzbaum. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish Uszer confirms the reception of Schwarzbaum's package, sent via Lisbon, Portugal, and specifies its contents: Four 0.5kg bags of flour, two 0.5kg bags of sugar, two boxes of sardines, two boxes of fat and one bar of soap. He adds that he has not received a package from Rozy Elkies. He writes that he has lost contact with Ruchei, Dawid and Poli and asks for their new address, if possible. Finally, he made an effort to send photos of Samka (Simcha), Jerzyk and Nolka and sends regards to the Lubelchiks, especially Sebastian and Hilde. Notes: 1. According to the Yad Vashem Witness Pages, Uszer's wife Haja (nee Lublechik) and their son Simcha perished in the war. 2. Uszer was Samuel's brother in law. His wife Haia had several siblings in Bogota, including Samuel and Sebastian - Shabtai. 3. The stamps on the postcard are from the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (Generalgouvernement) in Poland. 4. The photo of Uszer's children was transferred to the GFH Photo Archive (Photo 28397). The photo were presumably intended to enable Schwarzbaum to obtain foreign passports for the family. 5. Other materials pertaining to the Lubelchik family, donated by Sebastain - Shabtai, are in Collections 1885, Photo 30439 and other files. 6. Additional postcards that were in this file were transferred to files 41493 and 41494 in the Holdings Registry. About Alfred Schwarzbaum: Alfred (Alf) Schwarzbaum was a Jewish merchant from Bedzin, Poland, who fled to Switzerland after the occupation. In Switzerland, he set up a relief enterprise, and supported hundreds of Jews. Alfred (Alf) Schwarzbaum was born in 1896 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He later moved to Bedzin, became a businessman and started a family. In late September 1939, following the German occupation of Poland, he sent his daughter to England. In November 1939, he was jailed for several weeks in Myslowice and was interrogated by the Gestapo. After his release, he turned down an offer from Mosheh Merin, head of the Sosnowiec Jewish council, to be his deputy. Using his connections and his fortune, he was able to obtain visas for Switzerland. In April 1940, he left Poland and settled in Lausanne. Schwarzbaum soon started sending out food, clothing, money and papers to Poland. He managed to navigate between the often uncoordinated Jewish and Zionist organizations based in Switzerland, to transfer financial help to Jews in Poland. He sent hundreds of parcels to German occupied localities, via Lisbon, Sweden and Turkey. He visited refugee camps in Switzerland, and corresponded with persons living under the Nazi rule. He also produced passports, which led him into trouble with the Swiss police, who feared for violation of the country's neutrality policy. In 1945, he immigrated to Mandate Palestine. In Israel, he supported funds and provided stipends for students in need, in several Israeli institutes for higher education. He died in 1990.