From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from the Teitelbaum family, 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters sent by the family of Jermijasz - Jurek Teitelbaum from Budapest to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, regarding their wish to immigrate to Mandate Palestine. The letters were sent from the Wroblewski family residence. The file also contains a letter on the same matter sent by Dr. Meir Kahany at the directorate of the Jewish Agency in Geneva, 19 November 1943. 12 pages, typewritten and handwritten original, in German The names and dates birth of the Teitelbaum family members: Jermijasz (16 September 1909), his wife Stanislawa (5 June 1913), their son Richard (21 September 1938), Zelman (16 January 1908), his wife Andzia (2 February 1914), their children Wanda (15 December 1931) and Dorota (6 August 1934), Celestina (28 January 1938). 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.