From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters and Postcards sent by the refugee Sara , concerning her immigration to Mandatory Palestine, May 1944 – May 1945.

From the Alfred - Alf Schwarzbaum collection: Letters and Postcards sent by the refugee Sara Cwilich – Rosental, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, concerning her immigration to Mandatory Palestine, May 1944 – May 1945. Source, Polish & German (Handwritten & Print) 29 pages. Notes: 1. See also file no. 41619, Holdings Registry – letters sent by Rachel Cwilich who was the sister of Cwilich - Rosental Sara, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, December 1944 – July 1945. 2. Source: 27194, Holdings Registry. File content: A. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 24 May 1944. Sara shares that she is working with children and adds that she will be visited soon by people from Versoix, France. Source: Polish (Handwritten), Two pages. B. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 18 July 1944 in which she informs him that she is traveling to Lausanne, Switzerland. She says that except for the Schwarzbaum family she plans to visit also the Lindenberg family. Source, Polish (Handwritten), Single page. C. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 31 July 1944, in which she thanks Schwarzbaum for their meeting in Lausanne. The letter mentions among others the names of: Helena, Szuldenfrei and Nehemja. Source, Polish (Handwritten), Two pages. D. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 26 September 1944 in which she tells him about her wish to visit her sick sister, Rachel Cwilich who had been transferred from the DP camp to the hospital. E. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 2 December 1944 in which she requests a loan that will be returned in Palestine. According to her she had already asked for the help of Nathan Schwalb but the amount he can loan her is meager. She writes that her sister Rachel is still in the hospital and cannot make Aliyah with her because of the difficulty acquiring an immigration certificate to Mandatory Palestine. She adds that Rachel wishes to study at Basel University, Switzerland. Source, Polish (print), Two pages. F. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 5 December 1944 with more details about the loan she requested from Schwarzbaum. She shares that on 1 January 1945 a ship will depart from Lisbon, Portugal to Palestine – Eretz Israel. The ship will carry 180 passengers including refugees as well as a few Pioneers. She hopes that she would be among them. Source, Polish (Handwritten), Two pages. G. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 13 December 1944 in which she thanks him for the loan he had given her. Sara writes that her sister will be arriving that day. She adds that on Sunday she will be traveling with a few children to Zuerich, Switzerland. Source, Polish (Handwritten), Single page. H. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 15 December 1944. Sara asks for Schwarzbaum's help acquiring cloths and shoes for her Rachel her sister. Sara writes that Rachel received a permit to leave the hospital and will be coming to her on Tuesday. According to her, Rachel's medical condition isn’t good. Source, German (Handwritten), Single page. I. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 20 December 1944. She informs Schwarzbaum that she has returned to Bex. She writes that on Sunday she will be having another meeting in Monreux, Switzerland. Among others is mentioned the name of Riki. Source, Handwritten, single page. J. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 3 January 1945 in which she requests his assistance locating Fela – Fajga Hejnochowicz nee Rubin in the United states. According to her, Fela and her two children were in Lodz Poland until January 1940 when they received documents that allowed them to leave to the U.S.A. source, German (print) Single page. K. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 3 January 1945 containing the wording of a telegraph she wishes him to send on her behalf. The recipient of the telegraph is Jaime Lenga in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sara writes Jaime that the money he had sent her on September 1943 arrived safely and that her sister Rachel is with her in Switzerland though she is ill. She requests financial assistance. The telegraph contains mentioning of the following names: Pedro, Regina, Joseph. At the end of the letter she sends her regards to Felix Eisenstadt. Source, Polish and German (Print), Single page. L. A postcard sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, Bex to Alfred Schwarzbaum, Lausanne 7 January 1945, in which she writes that there is a delay in her process of immigrating to Mandatory Palestine. Sara thanks Irena Schwartzbaum for the package. The name of Stela is mentioned among others. Source, Polish (Print), Two pages. M. Postcard sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, Bex to Alfred Schwarzbaum, Lausanne, 13 January 1945. She writes that there are still no news concerning her Aliya to Palestine. She asks Schwarzbaum if he has news from Poland and if he had met Mr. N.[ Schwalb - Schwalbe Nathan]. Source, Polish (Print), Two pages. N. Postcard sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, Bex to Alfred Schwarzbaum, Lausanne, 29 January 1945 in which she requests the list of people who had arrived in Switzerland together with Schwarzbaum's relative. She asks if Schwarzbaum had met Mr. N.[ Schwalb - Schwalbe Nathan] in Zurich. Source, Polish (Print), two pages. O. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 7 March 1945 in which she writes about her sister's medical condition. Sara adds that she has relatives in Mandatory Palestine and that she had requested from them financial assistance. She also writes that on the 10 April 1945 a ship will be sailing to Palestine from Barcelona, Spain and she hopes that until then she would receive the needed documents to leave with it. Source, German (Print), Single page. P. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 24 March 1945 in which she adds a letter from Eli Fixman to his father. She also writes that it is still uncertain when she would make Aliya to Palestine. Source, German (Print), Single page. Q. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 4 May 1945 in which she requests his help transferring mail to Poland and to the Polish minister Stefan Jedrychowiski. Source, Polish (Print), Single page. R. A copy of the letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to the Polish Minister Stefan Jedrychowiski, Paris 4 May 1945. The letter concerns the Polish citizens of German Nationality (Volksdeutsche) that had helped her and her family during the war. Sara writes that in 1942 she was first in Ghetto Lodz, then Warszawa and later Piotrkow Trybunalski. She mentions Wilhelm Gruber and his wife who lived in Lodz and had sent her money on two occasions. She and Jozef Szajnfarber signed that they had received it. She adds that Stanislaw Koehler had sent money to her father Kalman Cwillich while he was in Ghetto Lodz. Sara writes that Koehler had also helped other Jews and Poles and was sent to a concentration camp as a consequence. Mentioned in the letter are also Ludwik Stencel and Emil Stencel. Source, Polish (Print), two pages. S. Letter sent by Cwilich - Rosental Sara, The youth Aliya house, Bex, Switzerland, to Alfred Schwarzbaum, 9 May 1945. Sara gives updated details on her Aliya. The names of the following names are mentioned in the letter: The engineer Wajcman and Mania Schwarzbaum. Source, Polish (Print), Single page. T. Telegram sent by Alfred Schwarzbaum, Lausanne to Lenga Jaime, Buenos Aires, 5 january 1945. On one side of the page appears the wording the telegram in Schwarzbaum handwriting and on the other the stamp of the Post office in Lausanne with payment confirmation. Source, German (Print and Handwritten), Two pages. 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.