From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from S. Kramkimel, Lausanne, March 1944

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters sent by S. Kramkimel from Lausanne, Switzerland, to the Association of Swiss Jewish Refugee Aid and Welfare Organisations (VSJF) in Zurich, 8 March 1944, and to Schwarzbaum, 15 March 1944. Kramkimel asks to change his and his wife's destination in Switzerland because of his medical condition. Note: Additional letters were transferred from this file to files 41360, 41361 and 41362 in the Holdings Registry. 3 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish and German Inventory: 1. 8 March 1944: Kramkimel asks the VSJF for their help following his correspondence with Rev. Paul Vogt from 22 November 1943 onward. According to Kramkimel, the Lausanne district's decision to send him and his wife to Champery on 16 March 1944 would be disastrous because of his high blood pressure and heart condition. He asks to be sent instead to a prayer house in Begden or Tenikon, where the altitude is low and the visitors are few. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in German (draft). 2. 15 March 1944: Kramkimel asks for Schwarzbaum's help. He mentions a telephone talk with [?] in Zurich and the refugee camp near Tour de Haldimand, Lausanne. 1 page, handwritten, original, in Polish 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.