From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from Malka – Manka Pozmantier, Bedzin, April - July 1943

From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters sent by Malka – Manka Pozmantier from Bedzin to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, asking for life - saving papers, April - July 1943. The letter dated 27 April 1943 is from file 26771 4 pages, print and handwritten original, in German In the first letter, sent on 27 April 1943, she refers to Dora, to Tosia's move and to the importance of the fact that Tusia's parents will be there with her. She asks for help for her uncle and aunt, who are not well, and reports that Zygmunt K. could not contact her sister because she moved several times, and asks for a prescription for her husband's Bronchitis from Schwarzbaum's daughter Irka. She mentions the dates of birth of her and her husband Abram – Mordechai Pozmantier (21 October 1907 and 21 November 1900, respectively), and also encloses a "wedding photo" of them both. She adds that she is working in an office and that her husband runs a small community. The file also contains an undated note sent by Leib Pozmantjer to Nathan Schwalb, asking him to forward the enclosed photos to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne. In the second letter, sent on 8 July 1943, she expresses concern about the absence of news from Schwarzbaum and writes that she has forwarded his regards to Gustawa W., who was supposed to send it to her friend. She asks if Schwarzbaum received a letter from Tusia. Manka writes that she had health issues and that her husband's lungs yearn for mountain air, and both would be happy to be with Idziek. Notes: 1. The letter is a cry for help. Manka sends her and her husbnad's information and photos so that Schwarzbaum will arrange for them to receive foreign passports. File 5285 in the Collections Section of the GFH Archives contains a Haitian passport issued for the Pozmantjer family. 2. "mountain air" may be code for "escape to Switzerland". 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.