From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence with Holocaust survivors from Poland in Flims, July - August 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence between Holocaust survivors from Poland in Flims, Switzerland, and Schwarzbaum, also in Switzerland, July - August 1945. 12 pages, typewritten and handwritten, original, in Polish and German Inventory: 1. Letter sent by Jecheskiel Rozmaryn, Chaim Molczadzki and Iser Londner [the writers' address is illegible] to Schwarzbaum, 6 July 1945. The senders confirm the reception of Schwarzbaum's postcard. They write that they have sent a letter to Dr. Abraham – Adolf Silberschein with a copy to Nathan (probably Nathan Schwalb). 1 page, handwritten, original, in Polish 2. Letter sent by Rozmaryn, Molczadzki and Londner from Flims to Schwarzbaum, 24 July 1945. They report about their situation, ask for help in tracing relatives and thank Schwarzbaum for sending necessary products. They add that they have received their Polish passports, whose validity has been extended to 27 July 1946. In the meantime, they and their fellow refugees expect to move to Castello di Trevano, Lugano, Switzerland. They have been in contact with a person named Dominsk, who asks for bread ration cards. They ask if Eliyahu Dobkin [the Jewish Agency's representative] has left Switzerland and ask for D. Pozner to convince Dobkin to help trace family members in DP camps in Germany. Molczadzki asks about his wife Genia; Iser asks for his sister Galia; and Rozmaryn and his brother Abram – Yakov ask for Lola Rozmaryn. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish 3. Letter sent by Rozmaryn, Molczadzki and Londner from Flims to Schwarzbaum, 25 July 1945. They report on their financial situation, matters they handled, other refugees and their expected travel to Trevano in late July 1945. They mention a certain "manifesto" and critique it. According to them, a person who survived the war would have written it differently. They are happy that Schwarzbaum had found his brother in law, Abram Gold, and that Srulek and Chaskel Ingster are alive. They would like to know where these persons are now. They note that Srulek was sent with them from Auschwitz to the Sachsenhausen camp in Germany, and left Sachsenhausen in a transport together with many other Jews from Bedzin. According to them, Ingster and Rozmaryn's brother Hersh were together in the Fuenfteichen (Miloszyce) camp in Poland, a Gross – Rosen subcamp. They note that their group consists of five men: Jecheskiel Rozmaryn, Chaim Molczadzki, Iser Londner, Abram - Yakov Rozmaryn and Mejer Cukier. They add that they receive no financial support from local committees or individuals. They describe their financial situation, including information about their expenses on food, mail, clothing, etc. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish 4. Letter sent by Jecheskiel Rozmaryn from Flims to Schwarzbaum, 28 July 1945. Rozmaryn asks for Schwarzbaum's help in forwarding mail to his wife at the Bergen – Belsen DP camp. 1 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish 5. Letter sent by Rozmaryn, Molczadzki and Londner from Flims to Schwarzbaum, 3 August 1945. They inform Schwarzbaum that they are due to leave Switzerland on 28 August. They ask for material support and note that they have asked for Dr. Silberschein's help in this matter. Since Silberschein's reply was negative, they wrote to Prof. Chaim Weizmann at the World Zionist Organization in London. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish 6. Copy of a telegram sent by Rozmaryn, Molczadzki and Londner from Flims to Weizmann, 31 July 1945. The three write that they are Polish Jews who survived the Auschwitz camp and are currently in Switzerland. 1 page, typewritten, in German 7. Letter sent by Rozmaryn from Flims to Schwarzbaum, 4 August 1945. Rozmaryn confirms the reception of Schwarzbaum's letter. 1 page, handwritten, original, in Polish 8. Letter sent by Rozmaryn and Molczadzki from Flims to Schwarzbaum, 6 August 1945. They thank him for the clothes he sent but wish to return some of them, which do not fit. They express their sorrow for the death of Dr. M. Liberman. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in Polish Notes: 1. Trevano was home to a hachshara (Zionist training center) run by the HeHalutz organization. 2. See also files 26699, 27379 and 41510 in the Holdings Registry. 3. For more letters from Rozmaryn to Schwarzbaum, see files 23106 and 41511 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.