From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters sent by Selma and Julius Rothbein to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 1. Seven letters sent by Julius Rothbein from Lustrup, Silkeborg and Haesleholm, Denmark, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, between 18 August 1940 and 5 December 1943. 14 pages, typewritten and handwritten copy, in German 2. Letter sent by Selma Rothbein (nee Skapowker) and her son Fritz from Bedzin to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne in the early 1940s (27 October). She asks for Schwarzbaum's help for her son, who suffers from health issues. 4 pages, handwritten copy, in German Julius, the son of Hans and Selma (nee Skapowker) Rothbein, married Selma – Rachel (nee Bukszpan) in Sweden. Their first son, Gideon, was born in 1948, and the family immigrated to Israel when he was one year old. Their second daughter, Ruth, was born in Israel. Julius's parents and brother, Fritz, perished in the Holocaust. Fritz (b. 8 May 1925 in Duesseldorf) was deported with his parents to western Poland in October 1938, shortly before Kristallnacht. Hans (b. 28 May 1893 in Warsaw) went back to Duesseldorf to take care of the family business, but was arrested by the Gestapo and committed suicide in his prison cell. Fritz was with his mother in the Bedzin ghetto, where he died of an illness. Selma was sent to Auschwitz, where she was killed. Her mother, Helene Skapowker (nee Rosenfeld) perished in the Terezin ghetto on 21 July 1942. Notes: 1. For more letters sent by the Rothbeins, see file 35800 in the Holdings Registry. 2. Other letters, not written by the rothbain's were transferred to file 3195 in the Collections Section and files 39604 – 39617, 39696, 39697 in the Holdings Registry. 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.