From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Telegrams from the HeHalutz movement, Geneva and telegrams asking for information and support, May - June 1945

From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Telegrams sent by the HeHalutz movement in Geneva and telegrams sent by John Benzion in Stockholm in May - June 1945, asking for information and support. 6 pages, typewritten original, in German and French Inventory: 1. Five telegrams sent to Schwarzbaum In Lausanne, May June 1945. Most were sent by John Benzin from Stockholm: A. A telegram dated 22 May, informing Schwarzbaum that Marek Szpigelman ia happy and that Henriette Szpigelman is looking for information on relatives in Mandate Paletine and about her brother Aharon in France. The sender adds that he has learned about seven girls who had come from Bedzin: Gzejwa Glajtman, Ita Krakauer, Cesia Sznal, Kusia Jaskierowicz, Lea Jachimowicz, Cesia Diamant and Mania Kapelusznik. B. Telegram dated 23 May, forwarding a request to Henriette Szpigelman, asking to find out what had happened to her parents and a relative, a lawyer named Paradistal. C. Telegrams dated 7 and 14 June, which also mention Henriette Szpigelman. The file also contains a telegram from Mr. Hirschfeld at the HeHalutz movement chapter in Hasselholm, asking to send a letter to Schoscha Briszk. 5 pages, typewritten original, in German and French 2. Letter sent by Nathan Schwalb at the World Center of HeHalutz, Geneva, 6 May 1945, thanking him for sending the lists of residents in Wolfratshausen, Biberach an der Riss, Germany, and Lund, Sweden. 1 page, typewritten original, in German 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.