מאוסף אלפרד - אלף שוורצבאום: מכתב מאת א' שנקר, שווייץ, נובמבר 1945

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by E. Schenker from Langnau, Switzerland, to Schwarzbaum in Mandate Palestine, confirming the reception of money and updating on the fate of mutual friends, 22 November 1945. Schenker thanks Schwarzbaum for his 1 October letter, wishing him good luck in Palestine. He confirms the reception of 50 francs and later also 50 British pounds, and writes about mutual friends: Ernst Bruell and his father have returned home. his brothers are under the auspices of the American Red Cross in Wiesbaden, Germany. The younger brother, who had lost his arm in an air riad, is in a hospital, after the family failed to have him transferred to Switzerland. The Schoen family in Voralberg, Austria, suffered a tragedy, when Mr. Schoen was killed in a car accident after managing to escape from Sosnowiec. Schenker adds that the younger Bruell son has sent a letter from the hospital, writing that the reason for the arrest of his brother and father was trying to obtain foreign passports - the Gestapo refused to believe that friends funded the visa (Devis) and believed that the family had a bank account in Switzerland. The Gestapo man told his brother that he know Schenker, and asks Schwarzbaum if he knows who it is. 2 pages, typewritten original, in German Source file: 27248 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.