From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from Mordechai – Majloch Ernst in the Bedzin ghetto and a Honduran passport for his son and daughter in law, 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 1. Letters sent by Mordechai – Majloch Ernst from the Bedzin ghetto to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne in the spring of 1943 - 22 April, 29 April and 5 May. The letters mention the names of Nathan Schwalb, Elf Tartakower and Frumka Klinger. 12 pages, handwritten original, in German 2. Honduran passport issued in Bern, Switzerland, to Szmuel Taub (b. 1913 in Bedzin) and his wife Cyrla (nee Ernst; b. 1915 in Bedzin) on 1 July 1943, based on documents dated 1 May. 9 pages, print and handwritten original, in Spanish Mordechai and Alta – Mariem Ernst lived in Bedzin. In April - May 1943, the Jews were confined to the ghetto. In his letters from April 1943, Mordechai describes their move into the ghetto, their plan to move in with Alta's brother, and their daughter Cyrla's marriage to Szmuel Taub. On 1 July 1943, the Taubs obtained a Honduran passport. Later that month, the Bedzin ghetto was liquidated and its inhabitants were sent to Auschwitz. Schwarzbaum kept the passport and four certified letters. Note: documents from this files were transferred to files 27155, 39607, 39729, 39730, 39731, 39732 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.