From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from Simone Bass, Ferramonti (1942 - 1945), Bari, (1945 - 1946), Melbourne, (1947 - 1954)

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters sent by Simone Bass from the Ferramonti internment camp in Italy (1942 - 1945), from Bari, Italy (1945 - 1946) and from Melbourne, Australia (1947 - 1954). The file also contains letters sent by his relatives regarding Simone. Simone escaped from Poland and reached Italy in January 1940. He travelled to Benghazi, Lybia, hoping to reach Mandate Palestine, but was caught. In 1940, he was interned in Ferramonti. The letters address several issues, including financial support from Schwarzbaum and requests for information about friends. The names he mentions in his letters include his brother, L. Bass, in Palestine, his cousin Abe Hausner, Dr. Traubner, Bracia Klein, cousin Lother Rosengart, Altman of Czestochowa, Dr. Ezechiel Schneider and Bruno Pollak. 44 pages, typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish, German and Italian 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.