From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from Chil and Mendel Schlesinger, the Bedzin ghetto, April 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by Chil and Mendel Schlesinger from the Bedzin ghetto to Schwarzbaum in Switzerland, 8 April 1943. They specify their year of birth (1923 and 1922, respectively), and add that they are the only members of their family who can write that. They send regards to their friends Bolo and Schwalbe, and to uncle Alembik, who is with Schwarzbaum's daughter Hala. The write that once they receive Schwarzbaum's reply, they will send photos. Notes: 1. The years of birth were probably meant for the production of forged papers. 2. Schwalbe is Nathan Schwalb, Switzerland; Hala is Halina Schwarzbaum, the US. 3. Originally: photos for keepsake. Presumably, photos nedded to produce forged papers. 4. Two other photos that were in the file (with handwritten inscriptions on the back) were transferred to the GFH Photo Archive: a photo of Josef and Pola Sylberman at the Foehrenwald DP camp in Germany; and a photo of two girls, presumably also from Foehrenwald, addressed to Harry Norch in the Bronx, New York. 2 page, 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.