From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: letters and postcards from Dr. Salomon Weinzieher, the Bedzin ghetto, 1941 - 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 1. Letters and postcards sent by Dr. Salomon Weinzieher (b. 1869) from Bedzin to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, 15 October 1941 - 24 April 1943. The letters and postcards are dated as follows: 15 October 1941, 9 September 1942, 13 October 1942, 24 Jauary 1943, 29 March 1943, 3 April 1943, 8 April 1943, 17 April 1943, 24 April 1943. 2. Two receipts for parcels sent from Geneva to Weinzieher in Bedzin, 6 and 18 April 1943. Notes: 1. The postcard dated 9 September 1943 is from file 26775; the one dated 15 October 1941 is from file 27116. 2. Chana (b. 1872), Salomon's wife, added a few words to some of the letters. 19 pages, handwritten original and copy, in Polish and German Source file: 27032 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 1946 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.