From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard from Ester Blumental (nee Gold), Bedzin ghetto, March 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Postcard sent by Ester Blumental (nee Gold, b. 1888) from the Bedzin ghetto to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, asking him to help her family, 14 March 1943. Ester (signed Eda) writes that her sister, Dora Zarompf, is very ill and Witek, who also caught a cold, talks a lot about Schwarzbaum. She has been unemployed for two weeks and hopes that Schwarzbaum can help. Richard does not love Olga anymore, only Czeslawa, a native of Bedzin, so only she can be contacted. Ester asks why Mania does not write and asks about Hala and Ira*. *Miram - Mania was Schwarzbaum's wife, Halina and Irena were his daughters. 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.