From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from the Rabinowicz and Pachter families, the Warsaw ghetto, November 1941

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: 1. Letter sent by the Rabinowicz and Pachter families from the Warsaw ghetto to Schwarzbaum in Switzerland, 11 November 1941. 2. Postcard sent by Hilary Pachter from the Czestochowa ghetto to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, 6 December 1941. The Rabinowiczs thank Schwarzbaum for sending them sardines and coffee and hope to see him soon. They ask for his well being and about his activities. Note: The authors appear to be trying to ask about the help Schwarzbaum can offer them, a question they cannot ask explicitly due to censorship. 2 pages, handwritten copy, in German and Polish 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 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.