From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence regarding the news that Mendel Horenstein has survived the war as a Jew in Berlin, August 1945 - July 1946

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence regarding the news that Mendel Horenstein, who had been in Berlin during the war, has survived and is in a hospital, August 1945 - July 1946. 1. Letter sent by [?] at the Association of Swiss Jewish Refugee Aid and Welfare Organisations (VSJF – Verband Schweizerischer Juedischer Fluechtlingshilfen) in Zurich, informing Schwarzbaum and the wife of Dr. Schelli Rosenwald that Mendel is in the Jewish hospital in Berlin, according to a report delivered by a US soldier. The sender asks the recipients for the addresses of [Saly] Meier and Salomon Mendelsohn so that they can be informed as well. 21 August 1945. 2. Letter from [?] at the VSJF to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, providing Horenstein's address at the American Joint Distribution Committee's (JDC) request: Horenstein Mendel, Iranischestrasse 2, Berlin N. 65. 26 October 1945. 3. Letter from Saly Meier at the JDC office in St. Gallen to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, sending regards from Horenstein. 6 March 1946. 4. Excerpt from a letter (Zurich, 5 July 1946): "...I have a brother in law at the hospital... he is a relative your husband may know: Horenstein, from southern Russia, a relative of Rabbis Friedmann and Horowitz, a distant relative of Pruwes and Bauminger. 4 pages, typewritten original, in German Note: additional documents from this file were transferred to the following files: 40068, 40069, 40070, 40071, 40072, 40074, 40075. 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.