From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from Wladyslaw Skalski, Budapest, January 1944

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by Wladyslaw Skalski from Budapest to Schwarzbaum in Lausanne, Switzerland, 19 January 1944. Skalski writes that this letter was sent via air mail because his two previous letters were not answered. He married six months ago and is currently in Budapest with his wife and her mother. His family is not with him. He reminds Schwarzbaum that he had escorted him to Katowice while Schwarzbaum was on his way to Switzerland. Skalski's aunt Eda, her sister and her sister in law Zaropf was like everyone else's. He tried everything, but his family perished. He had a hard time in Budapest at first, but things are picking up. He came to Budapest with no money or property, and asks for support and for news. Schwarzbaum wrote a comment in pencil: "Smietana, Jewish Council member". Webek Smietana was the head of the Jewish Council in the Sosnowiec ghetto in June 1943. 1 page, typewritten, original, in German 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.