From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Financial report for aid to Jews in Poland, 30 April 1942

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Financial report for aid to Jews in Poland, Zurich, Switzerland, 30 April 1942. The report specfies financing sources, deliveries and costs, from April 1941 until May 1942. 1 page, typewritten, original, in German The report is divided into three sections: sources (names of places and amounts); expenses (amounts and details); and list of deliveries to Poland (dates, trajectories, contents and amounts). The sources are Lausanne, Lucerne, Biel, Geneva, Bern, Basel, Baden, Winterthur, Friburg and Zurich. The expenses are food, medication, transportation, office supplies, posters, postal fees and travel expenses. The deliveries are as follows: 20 April 1941, Portugal to Warsaw; 14 May 1941, Iran to Krakow; 28 October 1941, Portugal to Krakow; 6 February 1942, Portugal to Warsaw; 10 February 1942, Portugal to Bedzin - Sosnowiec; 17 February 1942, Portugal to Krakow; 17 February 1942, Geneva to Warsaw and Krakow; 25 April 1942, Romania to Krakow. The contents include sardines, soap, tea, chocolate powder, coffee, rice, cocoa, chocolate, medications and Schmaltz. 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.