From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Requests for financial support sent by the Barenblatt family

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Requests for financial support sent by the Barenblatt family to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Inventory: 1. Telegram sent by Litman - Lotek - Lucien Barenblatt from New York, informing Schwarzbaum that his brother and his sister in law have arrived in Budapest and need urgent help. 1 page, typewritten original, in English and German 2. Letter sent by Henryk Grabowski from Budapest, 26 January 1944. Grabowski, a trained pianist, asks Schwarzbaum for urgent help for him and his wife, as his parents have perished. He adds that his situation will be even worse unless he receives help from his brother Lotek. 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish Note: Grabowski is apparently an assumed Polish name. He may have been travelling using forged papers. His original surname is Barenblatt. 3. Letter sent by Lucien on 6 July 1945, writing that he has learned from his brother's letter, which has been sent to him through Schwarzbaum, that the entire family had perished. He asks Schwarzbaum to try and locate his brother. He adds that Schwarzbaum's daughter is there with her husband, and may be pregnant. The letters includes an addendum written by Alfred's daughter, Hala - Halina, dated 20 May 1945. She writes that she had stayed with the Barenblatts after meeting Lindenbaum. 4 pages, hadnwritten original, in Polish 4. Two receipts for the transfer of financial support from Lausanne to Henryk in Budapest, 11 February and 6 May 1944. 2 pages, print and handwritten original, in German and French The file also contains a letter sent by the Barenblatts from New York on 12 September 1940, regarding financial assistance to Jews in need in Poland. 1 page, typewritten original, in Polish 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.