From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from Bala Lieberman, Sweden, summer - autumn 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters sent by Bala Lieberman from Lund and from a refugee camp in Doverstorp, Sweden, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, summer - autumn 1945. 12 pages, handwritten original, in German and Polish Bala was born in Poland on 25 September 1902. She was sent to the Bergen - Belsen camp, where she was liberated in April 1945 by the British Army. She subsequently came to a refugee camp in Sweden, from which she sent letters to Schwarzbaum asking for his help. The file also contains a receipt for a financial transfer from Lausanne to Lieberman in Lund, 8 August 1945. 2 pages, typewritten original, in German Note: A photo of Bala, which was in the file, was transferred to the GFH Photo Archive. Bala sent it from Sweden after the war. 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.