From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcards from Aleksander Kedzierawski, Chelm Lubelski, 1941

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcards sent by Aleksander Kedzierawski from Lukowek, Sawin voivodeship, Chelm Lubelski district, Poland, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 8 February and on 15 July 1941 - and on 12 January 1947. In the first postcard, Aleksander asks whether they can meet this year, and writes that according to Eda's letter, Anka is distant and is not doing well. Aleksander writes the his wife (signed ZDK) is well and that the family is with them. They ask him to stay in touch. In the second postcard, Aleksander thank Schwarzbaum for the parcel that came on 23 April 1941, which included tea, coffee and cocoa, and congratulates him on his daughter's wedding. Note:After the war, Aleksander's daughter also wrote to Schwarzbaum. See file 40099. Source files: 27032, 27116 8 pages, handwritten original, in Polish 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.