From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from Szprinca Kugelman, Knislinge, July 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by Szprinca Kugelman from Knislinge, Sweden, to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, 25 July 1945. 3 pages, handwritten original, in Polish Szprinca, Joel Kugelman's widow, asks for Schwarzbaum's help in finding her sons Mojzesz (b. 10 September 1919 in Bedzin), Wolf (b. 5 May 1924 in Bedzin) and Jozef (b. 4 May 1926 in Sosnowiec). She writes that their cousin Heniek, son of Jozef - Leib Kugelman, was sent with her sons to a concentration camp in Germany. She has recently found out that he and his wife Basa are in Munich and asks Schwarzbaum to find out if her sons are with him there. Source file: 27031 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.