Letter sent to Alfred Schwarzbaum in Lausanne from Lifscitz law firm owned by Boris Lifschitz & J.D. Lifschitz in Bern, dated June 10, 1940. Single page, copy, German, print.

Alfred – Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letter sent to Alfred Schwarzbaum in Lausanne from the Lifscitz law firm owned by Boris Lifschitz & J.D. Lifschitz in Bern, dated June 10, 1940. Single page, copy, German, print. Original: 28114 Lifscitz updates Schwarzbaum that the Doctor madam does not find it possible to intervene on his behalf at the Jewish communities union of Switezerland (SIG - Schweizerischer Israelitischer Gemeindebund)[ St. Gallen]. He suggest that instead Schwarzbaum would meet with Feldstein in Zuerich. He adds that unfortunately they received a confirmation to only a single, double, export request. Hence the sender may send only once package a week and from each product only one kilogram. The total weight of the package should be maximum two kilos. Sending Cacao is currently forbidden all together. Therefore they changed the ingredients of the package into 1 kg chocolate and another kilo of nourishing products such as Ovomaltine, Forsanose. 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.