From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence of Saul – Saly Gurewicz, 1941 - 1949

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence between Saul – Saly Gurewicz in Zurich and Schwarzbaum and other people (in Switzerland, England, the US, Rhodesia and Mandate Palestine), 17 April 1941 - 8 July 1949. Gurewicz's poems about the war are enclosed to the letter. The file also contains letters from Gurewicz's friends and relatives, including A. Gurewicz in Vilnius and Grisha Chwatzkin in Zurich. 66 pages, handwritten original, in German, Yiddish and Polish Source file: 27101 Saly Gurewicz was born in Vilnius on 10 December 1920, the son of Israel, a school principal, and Anna (nee Aronowicz). He had a sister named Tamara. He completed elementary and boarding school in Vilnius. In December 1938 he moved to Grenoble to study at the Electrotechnical Institute. He completed the first four semesters and, after successfully passing an exam in May - June 1940. Then, the Polish Consulate in Lyon recruited him for an examination to do service in the Polish army in French exile. He was in Paris when German troops occupied the city on 14 June 1940. Apparently, he was interned at a camp in Moulins, north of Vichy, for approximately two weeks after that. He fled and made his way back to Grenoble, where he lived freely for another year. In June 1941, he was arrested and was interned in Argeles - sur - Mer on the Spanish border, where he met Cvi - Grisas Chvakinas (Grisha Chwatzkin), a student from Kaunas. After three or four weeks they both escaped and made their way back to Grenoble, where they hid for about five weeks. On 12 September 1941 they left Grenoble in direction of the Swiss border, which they crossed illegally on 14 September at Chamonix / Orsieres. Taking a train to Zurich they reported to the Israelitische Cultusgemeinde on 15 September and were directed to Bern to report to the Fremdenpolizei (Foreigner Police). They had to report every day to the Fremdenpolizei. After about twelve days, an official told Gurewicz that he and Chvakinas were about to be deported back to France because it had been confirmed by the Swiss embassy in ‘unoccupied’ France that they did not have to fear deportation from Germans. Gurewicz and Chvakinas headed back to Zurich and went to a synagogue to ask for a place to stay. They were sent to a Mrs. Wyler, who rented them a room. On 10 September 1942, Chvakinas was arrested, because the father of a 19 year old Swiss girl with whom he had a relationship, had alarmed the police. Apparently, the girl was pregnant. Police arrested Chvakinas, who had introduced himself under a false identity to the girl. On the next day, they searched the rented room and came across Gurewicz, whom they arrested as well. Gurewicz was incarcerated until 16 November 1942, after that he was transported to the Durchgangslager Buergerspital (transit camp), and on 15 December to a labor camp in Moosbad, near Emmenmatt. Sometime in early 1943 he was moved to a labor camp Hedingen, near Zurich. By this time, he was in no more danger to be deported back to France. Gurewicz decided to take up his studies again. His plan was to complete a degree, then move to the United States, where his brother in law’s sister, Marcia Glasser, lived. He was admitted as a student at the Federal Polytechnical Institute in Zurich, but also took courses at the nearby university’s Institute of Applied Psychology. He was officially enrolled as student of the University of Zurich on 5 May 1944. His interests shifted more and more towards psychological problems, and he completed his dissertation in 1948. Shortly after that he moved to the United States. He worked at New York’s Bellevue hospital, among other things conducting research on children suffering from schizophrenia. Later he opened a private practice. Starting in the 1960s he worked as an artist (painter). He was married to the Haitian - born painter Adrienne DeJoie. He has two daughters, Tamara (named after his sister) and Sonia. He died in 2001 in Boston, MA.* *Biography written by Marino Ferri, University of Lucerne. 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.