From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 9 postcards from Bedzin, Czestochowa, Vilnius, Opatow and Warszawa, 9/10/1940 - 8/12/1941

From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 9 postcards sent from different persons in locales and ghettos in Poland and Vilnius (Vilna) to Alfred Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, thanking him for the letters and parcels he sent and reporting their situation. The postcards were sent from Bedzin, Czestochowa, Vilnius, Opatow, Warsaw (Warszawa) from 9/10/1940 to 8/12/1941. 18 pages, handwritten originals, in German and Polish Inventory: 1. Postcard from Dora and Leib Zarompf in Bedzin, 9 October 1940. 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish. The author describes the harsh conditions of the Motkows in the northern Ural Mountains, on the border of Siberia and Kurenevo, and the fate of F. Neuman, who had left Baranowicze in late June 1940. 2. Postcard from Marianne Rapaport in Czestochowa, 16 November 1940. 2 pages, handwritten original, in German 3. Postcard from E. Blumenthal in Bedzin, 25 February 1941. 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish. The author protests against the recipient's silence and reports that she has sent parcels via the Red Cross. She mentions Zalman of Boryslaw and other people - Natan, Adela and Witek. 4. Postcard from J. Gurevicius in Vilnius, 16 May 1941. 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish. The author thanks the recipient for his help to his son and says he helps the recipient's son in law in return. He sends a parcel for Lolik and says he wrote to Glikson. 5. Postcard from Dora Zarnowiecka in Opatow, 20 June 1941. 2 pages, handwritten original, in German. She thanks the recient for the products she received (tea, cocoa, coffee) and confirms their reception. She says they have no jobs or incomes. 6. Postcard from Alzbieta Gruenbaum, Heini and Betty in the Warsaw ghetto, 1 July 1941. 2 pages, handwritten original, in German. The authors thank the recipient for the parcels they received via Lisbon, including coffee, tea and chocolate. They took 540g and forwarded the rest. They ask for soap and canned sardines. 7. Postcard from Postcard from D. Weinzieher in Bedzin, 15 October 1941. 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish. The author served as chairman of the Jewish Council in the Bedzin ghetto for some time. He addresses the welfare activity in the ghetto and Chaim Merin. 8. Postcard from H. Lenik in Wrsaw, 19 October 1941. 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish. The author responds to the recipient's letter to her daughter. She says her daughter is no longer there, and that she herself was sent to the ghetto two months earlier and that her social and personal lives were shattered. She expresses hope that her children abroad will arrange fo the necessary documents to bring her to them. 9. Postcard from T. Nussenblatt in Warsaw, 8 December 1941. 2 pages, handwritten, in German. The author, a journalist who had studied the life of Theodor Herz, left Vienna during the Anschluss and settled in Dabrowa Gornicza, near Bedzin, the hometown of his wife Tamara (nee Gutman), the daughter of a wealhy family (through which he came to know Schwarzbaum). At the start of the was he moved to Warsaw and was a chief activit in the ghetto. He asks to have Ulli prove his friendship with action. About Alfred Schwarzbaum: 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 1946 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.