From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter from Hela, the Bedzin ghetto to Abram Liwer, Switzerland, March 1943

From the Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent by Hela on behalf of her self and two families from the Bedzin ghetto to Abram and Esta Liwer,* Switzerland, 16 March 1943. 2 pages, handwritten, original, in German Source file: 24048 Hela asks Schwarzbaum to write about his daughter, because all she knows is what her aunt wrote from Paris. She writes that everyone is well, father, mother, her husband Szaje - Zvie and herself. So are Weissalz, Andzia and Gul [?]. They often meet. She asks about Abram, asking him not to worry and write more often. They have not seen Schwarzbaum, but think he should ask them for a visit.** Erich Elsner writes to her and sends regards. She asks about Edzia and Majer. An addendum was written by her father [illegible name] he has no news about Rut Weiss or her parents. He asks why Mr. Herzberg doesn't write. He greets Schwarzbaum. Notes: * The letter was addressed to Abram but was sent to Schwarzbaum in Switzerland. See also file 2047 in the Collections Section and files 41500, 2048 and 39578 in the Holdings Registry. ** By "visit" they possibly meant for Schwarzbaum to help them obtain foreign passports. Eliezer – Leon Rechnic (B. 27 January 1903) married Gitta – Gucia Liwer (b. 8 October 1903), daughter of Chaim (b. 5 October 1867) and Rywka (b. 6 July 1868). They lived in Bedzin. Gitta had four siblings: Abram, Szmuel, Szymon (who married a woman named Regina) and Reizale (b. 1897), who married Mosze Schmid and lived in Monaco before WWII. Only Abram and Szmuel survived. The other family members perished. 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.