From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Two letters from Hans Mareki, Villigen, asking to give him news from the Warsaw ghetto, May 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Two letters sent by Hans Mareki from Villigen, Switzerland, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, May 1943, asking to meet him to give him news from Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, 4 and 19 May 1943. Mareki writes that between January and May 1943, he was in Warsaw and spoke to Schwarzbaum's friends, who asked to see Schwarzbaum and discuss things with him. He wishes to see Schwarzbaum before mid - June 1943, when he is planning to travel to Warsaw. Notes: 1. By "Schwarzbaum's friends", Mareki is possibly referring to Jews in the ghetto who know Schwarzbaum or who seek his help. Mareki may have brought back letters from Warsaw. 2. Additional postcards were transferred from this file to files 40272, 40273, 40274, 40275, 40276. 5 pages, handwritten original, in German 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.