From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcards from the Gothajl family in Warsaw and Bedzin, August 1940 and November 1941

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcards sent by Menek – Mendel Gothajl and his wife Fannyi (nee Kaufman) from Warsaw, Poland, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 29 May, 17 July and 10 August 1941. 5 pages, handwritten original and copy, in Polish Source file: 27040 Menek, the son of Yitzhak Meir and Dwora (nee Szajn) and the brother of Mateusz, was born in Lodz, where he lived with his wife Fannyi and their son Tomi (b. 1930s) and owned a factory. During the war, the family, including Dwora, lived in the Warsaw ghetto, on 49 Gesia Street. Menek, Tomi and Dwora perished. Note: see also file 39729 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.