From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: letters sent by Hermann Adler from Taesch bei Zermatt to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, May 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 1. Letters sent by Hermann Adler from Taesch bei Zermatt to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland on 5, 18 and 20 May 1945. Hermann asks for Schwarzbaum's help in obtaining immigration certificates for Palestine for him and his wife Anita. He also describes his wartime literary and documentary activity and encloses some of his poetry. Also in the file are letters he wrote from the Nickolsburg refugee camp to Feri Partos, the president of the Caux refugee camp near Montreaux, Switzerland, and to the union board there, 20 May 1945. 9 pages, typewritten copy, in German 2. Parts of postcards sent to Schwarzbaum. 5 pages, handwritten copy, in Polish and German Addtional documents from this file were transferred to files 39578, 39579, 39580, 39581, 39582, 39583, 39584, 39585, 39586 and 39587 in the Holdings Registry of the GFH Archives. 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.