From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Two letters from Aleksander Ostrowski, the Warsaw ghetto, October - December 1942

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Two letters sent by Aleksander Ostrowski from the Warsaw ghetto to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, 4 October and 9 December 1942. Ostrowski confirms the reception of twelve parcels with 0.5kg of tea each, and asks for regular deliveries of tea, coffee, sardines, sweet almonds and honey, which he needs more than before. He asks to send the future parcels to his new address, on 8 Prozna Street. He sends his regards to Gottfried, and hopes he woudl help. He also asks Schwarzbaum to help three women in the ghetto - Helena Dulabina, Lucyna Ostoja and Zofia Lukowska, whose addresses he specifies. He inorms Schwarzbaum that Stach, Marysia and Eziuta are currently living together with Halka. The second letter was sent in December 1942 but was only received on 5 January 1943. Ostrowski apologizes for the delay and updates Schwarzbaum that so far only eight cans of sardines have arrived, and that Lukowska has received nothing. Schwarzbaum added a few lines for Mr. Gottfried, expressing joy at the reception of a sign of life from Warsaw and writing that only three of the recipients have received their parcels. Source file: 27249; see also file 40324 7 pages, handwritten original, in Polish and German 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.