From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter and telegrams from Alexander Ogurek, Budapest and Bratislava, 1943 - 1944

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter and telegrams sent by Alexander Ogurek, a refugee from Bedzin, Poland, from Budapest and from Bratislava to Schwarzbaum in Switzerland, 1944. 19 pages, typewritten and handwritten original, in German and Polish The letters dated 15 January through 16 March 1944 were sent from Budapest; the ones dated 7 June through 25 August 1944 were sent from Bratislava. In his 7 June letter, Ogurek writes that Mr. Majer has sent news from the Ogurek and Fiszer families, and that he urgently needs passports for him and his family. He adds that the number of Jews in Kamionka, Poland, has diminished. Note: The Jews of Bedzin were concentrated in a ghetto in the suburb of Kamionka in the spring of 1943. The file also contains three receipts for financial transfers from Lausanne to Ogurek in Budapest, 29 January - 13 March 1944. 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.