From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard from Anda Lehrer, Strzemieszyce ghetto, June 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard sent by Anda Lehrer from the Strzemieszyce ghetto, Poland, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, 17 June 1943, a few days before the liquidation of the ghetto. Anda thanks Schwarzbaum for the letter, which came inside a letter addressed to Mr. R. She says she cannot share information about her relative, I. Sheridan from Chicage, because she has not been in touch with him for four years, and the last time she had heard from him he was living in Illinois. She asks Schwarzbaum to write if he hears something from him. [a second signature is illegible] 2 pages, handwritten copy, in German Source file: 27116 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.