From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from Aron Hercygier, Bedzin ghetto, March 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by Aron Hercygier from the Bedzin ghetto, Poland, to Schwarzbaum in Switzerland, 15 March 1943. Aron mentions his and his wife's dates of birth, along with two portrait photos. He asks Schwarzbaum to send his regards to Ilse and her relatives, and to Rela and Dita. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in German Source file: 23958 Hercygier was born in Bedzin on 27 December 1876, and was amerchant. He married Anna - Helena Szuldberg (b. 8 March 1881), a native of Warsaw. They lived on 21 Gartenstrasse, Bedzin. They had three children: 1. Emilja - Milka (b. 1907), who married a lawyer named Jerzy – Jehoszua Karen - Kanarek (b. 1906). They settled in Warsaw. In 1938, they had a daughter, Chawa. All three perished in the Treblinka camp in 1942. 2. Jozef (b. 1909), native of Bedzin, married Ester Unger. Jozef perished in Auschwitz in 1944, Ester survived. 3. Rachel, native of Bedzin. Survived the was and married a man surnamed Kaplanski. Aron and Chana perished in Auschwitz on 1 August 1943. Notes: 1. The dates of birth and photos were sent in order to enable Schwarzbaum to produce foreign passports for the family. 2. The diagonal blue pencil strike suggests the letter was inspected by the German censorship. 3. Schwarzbaum wrote two comments in pencil at the top of the letter: 2 photos, received 29 March; sent to Rela on 30 March. 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.