From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters from Rachela and H. Rozenker, Les Avants, May - July 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by Rachela Rozenker from Bedzin, 19 May 1945; and another letter sent by her relative H. Rozenker from Les Avants, Switzerland, 20 July 1945. 4 pages, handwritten original, in Polish In the first letter, Rachela asks for certificates for her and for her father [Majer Rozenkier]. She writes that she has been staying with her father in Budapest, where he was active in offering relief to Polish refugees. She adds that she was at the Gruenberg labor camp for women, a Gross - Rosen subcamp. where she met people she knew. She is currently in Bedzin and has met Alfred's niece, Fula Schwarzbaum. In the second letter, her sister writes from Switzerland that she was happy to receive Rachela's letter from Schwarzbaum, and asks him to help her family immigrate together to Mandate Palestine. Source file: 27250 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.