From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from the Bureau de secours aux refugies de la communaute Israelite, Lausanne, concerning the Gross sisters, February 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from the office for the protection of Jewish refugees (Bureau de secours aux refugies de la communaute Israelite) in Lausanne, Switzerland, to Schwarzbaum, also in Lausanne, 5 February 1945. The letter asks Schwarzbaum to allow two women workers who are planning to immigrate to Mandate Palestine in late February 1945 to keep working there until their departure. 1 page, typewritten, original, in German According to the letter, Esther Gross and her sister Henni, who work at the office, were recently told they would be allowed to immigrate at the end of February. Since their current job is important, the authors ask Schwarzbaum to ask the Youth Aliyah to allow them to keep working until the day of their departure. The authors add that both women have been studying Hebrew in their spare time and are active in a youth movement in Lausanne, so therefore they need not go to a hachshara (Zionist training center). Finally, the authors note that the Gross sisters' work with refugees is extremely important, something which Schwarzbaum's "friends in Geneva" surely understand. Notes: 1. For a letter sent by the sisters to Schwarzbaum in August 1944, asking for his help in facilitating their immigration to Palestine, see file 25911. 2. A second letter that was in this file was transferred to file 41599. 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.