From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from Henrik - Henio Milner, Budapest, asking for financial support, 1944

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Correspondence between Henrik - Henio Milner, Budapest, and three other people (his father in Mandate Palestine, Schwarzbaum in Lausanne and an attorney named Imre Kalman), concerning his urgent request for financial support, 1943 - 1944. 12 pages, handwritten, original and copy, in German and Polish Source file: 27250 Inventory: 1. Letter sent by Milner, using the name Henryk Mlynarczyk, to his father Jacob in Palestine, asking for his help, 1 November 1943. Note: A pencil written inscription on the back reads: "Kstlgr Jerzy 38 Br. 5 Posten". Kstlgr is Jerzy (Georg) Kuenstlinger. 1 page, typewritten, original, in Polish 2. Letter sent by Milner to Jacob on 24 January 1944, asking him to send him money through Schwarzbaum. He writes that Mr. Klarmann helpd him a lot in obtaining various papers, including a visa. He adds that his daughters Genia and Relia are with their grandmother and that he is trying to get visas for them too. He add that Georg Kuenstlinger has been helping him contact Schwarzbaum to receive finacial aid and that Georg's son Harry is in England. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in German 3. Confirmation signed by Milner for the reception of money from Atty. Imre Kalman in Budapest. 1 page, handwritten, original, in German 4. Letter sent by Milner to Schwarzbaum on 17 April 1944. Milner writes that he is a minor who needs financial support and that he does not understand why his father has been unable to help him through his contacts from Mandate Palestine. He writes that his father and his buisness partner, Marek Schein, are in Tel Aviv. 7 pages, handwritten, original, in German 5. Letter sent by Kalman from Budapest to Schwarzbaum in Haifa, Palestine, on 2 October 1947, regarding Georg's request to become involved in Milner's case. Kalman writes that he has not yet received anything from Klarmann and asks Schwarzbaum to transfer the money through his daughter Sophia in Montreaux, Switzerland. 1 page, typewritten, original, in German Note: on 1 November 1943, several letters were sent to Schwarzbaum in one package. All are typewritten and signed in first name only, with a handwritten side note containing the author's full name. Most were cut to small pieces. One letter was written by Georg - Jerzy Kuenstlinger, who reported about the 1,800 Jewish refugees from Poland currently in the camp in Budapest and their living conditions, compared to the Polish refugees. He refers to the local Polish committee and its treatment of Poles and Jews, and writes about Polish activists and their treatment of the Jews. See files 40281 and 27046. Another letter was written by Emma Kuenstlinger, a relative of Jerzy – Georg Kuenstlinger, to a woman named Dolly in England. The letter was sent to Schwarzbaum, asking him to forward it to England and inform her son Harry. See file 41257. The third letter was written by Henryk Miller. See file 40279. 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.