From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard sent in 1945, concerning a convoy from Switzerland, and another document

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard sent to Schwarzbaum in 1945, and another document. The postcard concerns a convoy from Switzerland to an undisclosed destination via Geneva. 3 pages, print and handwritten, original, in German, Polish and English Inventory: 1. Postcard sent by [illegible name, possibly C.A.] from Bern, Switzerland, 20 January 1945. The sender reports that the convoy left for Geneva that morning and would continue that evening or on the following morning. He expects the convoy to reach their desitnation within weeks or months. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in German 2. Envelope sent to Schwarzbaum, postmarked by the British censorship. 1 pages, print and handwritten, in Polish and English Note: other documents that were in the file were transferred to files 26774, 41390 and 40095. 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.