The letters of Rafal - Rafael Potasz

The letters of Rafal - Rafael Potasz. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish and German Donated by his daughter, Tami Reuveni, on 16 February 2014 Rafal was born in 1911 in Bedzin, Poland. He studied law in Krakow, worked as a lawyer, married Zosia Potasz, and in 1937 had a daughter, Lilka Potasz. After the German occupation, he was conscripted to the Polish army's alpinist unit, taken prisoner and was sent to a POW camp in Bonn, Germany. He was held in the camp until the end of the war, even though most Jewish officers were sent to Poland. His wife and daughter remained in Bedzin (he received the last letter from his wife in April 1943). Zosia was later sent to the Groenberg labor camp, Germany. Lilka stayed with her Grandmother and aunt; Three of them were sent to Auschwitz in 1943. Four of Zosia's cousins survived the war and immigrated to Israel. One of them, Henia, married Joseph Potasz, Rafal's brother. Joseph was sent to Mikveh Israel (an agricultural youth village) in 1936. In 1939, when he was due to return to Poland, he was informed by his father Meir Potasz that he should stay in Palestine. He did, and in 1944 he joined the Jewish Brigade. His first wife, Lola Potasz, also from Bedzin, was in a labor camp with Henia. For her, too, it was a second marriage; her first husband's name was Zelig Rabinovicz. At the end of the war, Rafal reached the Augsburg DP camp, where he met Hela - Haja Potasz (nee Abramowicz), born 1924 in Khmelnik. Hela immigrated to Palestine before him, met his brother Josef and shared her wartime experiences with him. Rafal immigrated later, and they married in Palestine in 1947. Rafal never spoke of his previous life, and his daughters found out about his past only after they cleared their parents' home, after the father died and the mother moved into a home for the elderly. The file contains: A. Letters and postcards sent from Zosia in Bedzin (Bendsburg) to Rafal in Stalag 6 H, Camp 800, Germany, 6 August 1941 – 27 July 1943. Scores of pages, typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish and German B. Correspondence with Alfred Schwarzbaum: 1. Postcards sent from Meir Potasz, Rafal's father, from Warszawa (Warsaw) to Alfred Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, 25 May 1941 – 16 June 1942. Handwritten original, in Polish 2. Letters and postcards from Rafal Potasz, Prisoner 394, to Alfred Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, 25 February 1941 – 7 November 1944. The letter from 14 August 1941 was stamped in Dueren, Germany, and the one from 13 July 1942 was stamped in Geneva, Switzerland. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish 3. Letters and postcards from Alfred to Rafal, 6 November 1941 – 19 November 1944. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish C. Letters and postcards sent from Meir Potasz to his son Rafal, 10 October 1941 – 5 July 1942. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish D. Letters and postcards sent to Rafal in Germany from his brother Josef in Palestine, 23 September 1942 – 15 March 1944. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish Attached: two letters from Henryk Potasz, Prisoner 32444, Stalag B 6, sent in January and April 1942. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish E. Letters and postcards sent from three women in Poland to Rafal in the POW camp in Germany, 13 April 1942 – 12 December 1944. Most letters were sent from Mielau (Mlawa), Poland, from a woman named Wieslawa Wetmanska. Some were sent from Zamosc and Lublin, Poland, from a woman named Irena Rybczynska. One postcard was sent from Ms. Kepinska in Bedzin on 19 October 1944. Typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish F. A postcard from Tadeusz Babinski in Poland to Rafal in a POW camp in Bonn. The writer states that the money he tried to transfer to Rafal was refused by the camp authorities and returned to his account. Typewritten original, in German G. Four mail invoices from Lausanne 28 August 1940 – 17 January 1941. Typewritten and handwritten original, in French and German Additional items, donated by Tami Reuveni in November 2019: A. Postcard and letters sent to Alfred Schwarzbaum by Edzia Potasz, 1940 - 1942. The one dated 8 June 1942 is stamped by the Jewish Council. Jadzia was evidently Rafael's mother. 18 pages, handwritten original, in Polish B. Letter sent to Rafael in 1942 by his father, letter sent to him in 1944 by Israel - Srul Szaari from Tel Aviv, and other letters. 9 pages, typewritten and handwritten original, in Polish C. List of names, including Schwarzbaum 2 pages, handwritten original, in Polish Notes: 1. The Gruenberg camp was set up in February 1942 in order to employ men and women in textile factories. Most women were brought by the Schmelt organization. In its first stages, men were held in the camp too, but since July 1944 it was converted to a women's labor camp, one of many in the Gross – Rosen network. The camp held cruel selection procedures, and the women were sent to Auschwitz. In early 1945, they were sent on a death march. On May 2, After many were shot dead, the remaining women were liberated by the Americans in the Czech area. 2. Alfred Schwarzbaum was born in 1896 in Sosnowiec, Poland. He later moved to Bedzin, worked in trade and started a family. After the German occupation he escaped with his wife and two daughters to Lausanne. From Lausanne, he conducted relief and aid efforts to Polish Jews: food parcels, clothing, money and immigration papers. The lives of many were saved thanks to his work. He died in Israel in 1990.