From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: letter from Julian Siegel, Bedzin, June 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 1. Letter sent by the Association of Swiss Jewish Refugee Aid and Welfare Organisations (VSJF) in Zurich to Schwarzbaum on 5 June 1945. the letter explains that the Association has recently received a letter from Ing. Julian Siegel in Bedzin, addressed to Schwarzbaum and asking for his help. The original letter is enclosed, and Schwarzbaum is asked to reply. 2. Letter sent by Siegel from Bedzin, which contains biographical information about Schwarzbaum (presumably so he can be located in Switzerland). Siegel writes that his wife Hela (nee Till) and daughter Halina, as well as the entire Till family, were gassed. He writes that his previous letter was unanswered, and asks for a reply. Note: According to a witness page filled out by Siegel for Yad Vashem in 1955, his daughter (b. 1923 in Katowice), a medical student, was killed in Auschwitz on 7 August 1943. 2 pages, typewritten and 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.