A collection of letters and documents from survivors of the DP camps that were sent to Dr. Arie Bauminger as part of his role as secretary of the Central Committee for Polish Jews after the Holocaust, requesting urgent assistance to leave Europe and immigrate to Eretz Israel. And letters from relatives of Holocaust survivors looking for loved ones Who lost track of them. Italy and Poland, 1944-1947. A collection that faithfully reflects the mood and tense state in the months following release.
A wide range of letters sent to Dr. Bauminger from various sources in an attempt to locate their relatives who disappeared in the Holocaust and their fate is unknown, and letters from Holocaust survivors in Rome and elsewhere who waited for assistance with Jewish Agency immigration permits and approached him as director of the Palestine Office of the Jewish Agency in Italy after the Holocaust, asking for help: “Did the agency send immigration licenses to me and my family as I was promised? … I do everything for summarizing the operation here so that I can every day (as a Jew waiting for the Messiah come) be ready for it when the licenses arrive for us …”. apears Letters from family members caring for their relatives who remained in Rome : “I was waiting for you on every ship that arrived in the country from Italy. I was sure that here, here you come, I was very disappointed when you did not come and no letters from you were received … so I do not know what your situation is today. There are rumors that the situation of the refugees in Italy is in all bad, indeed no wonder that I take care of you, leyvush … ” (letter dated August 8, 1945). In another letter sent to him by Dr. Yaakov Perry in an attempt to locate a survivor from Krakow: “There is one girl in Milan, a native of Krakow … she was once in the Hebrew Gymnasium and ‘Akiva’, her sister lives in Haifa and the girl wants to immigrate of course. Therefore, I strongly urge you to help her as much as possible. For several months she has been leaving Poland and sitting in the Austrian camps … ” . In a letter from October 1945 which was written from a survivor who was in San Maria, it is written: ” In San Maria the situation is not in my favor … I am in Italy in a very difficult situation, i’m in difficult situation … when I come Here I learned that there are a number of certificates for children … and pregnant women … Is it impossible to enjoy these certificates? The children are traveling with their parents … and I am in exile in Italy in a very difficult situation and I do not have the opportunity to immigrate … I ask you to give me the opportunity to immigrate … “. in a letter written in December 1945, the writer describes his hardships on his journey to Eretz Israel via Egypt from the port of Trento “The Hebrew military unit has long since left Trento …”. There is also a fascinating letter from September 1946 from a man who says that a group of thugs attacked him ( “a gang of four people headed by Borbowski, and Hershpong who are now in Italy and want to infiltrate the country” ) and stole all his money buried in his shoes and seeks to immigrate to Eretz Israel through it. In his letter, he asks the Central Palestine Ministry in Italy to prevent their assistance from immigrating to Israel, and asks them to investigate the criminal act they committed. There are also urgent telegrams sent to Bauminger from survivors and operatives at the Zionist Congress, letters to the Hechalutz Center in Rome, letters related to the organization of an immigration license to Eretz Israel to Bauminger himself, and letters from his relatives concerned about his safety, certificates, and various documents, and more.
Aryeh Bauminger [1913-2002] a Krakow native. During WWII he escaped Polish territory and arrived in Kovno, Lithuania, where he was caught when the Nazis took control of the city, and he was taken to forced labor. However, he managed to flee and hid in the basement of a local farmer’s home. From there, he escaped to the forest together with partisans. His family was almost entirely killed off in the Holocaust. After the Holocaust, Bauminger returned to Warsaw where he served as secretary to the Central Committee for Polish Jewry, and then after a while in this role, he stayed in Italy where he managed the local office of the Jewish Agency – The letters before us were sent to him by virtue of this position. After immigrating to Israel he became the administrative manager of the Yad Vashem museum and dealt extensively with collecting the names of the victims and with the perpetuation of Krakow Jewry.
37 letters and documents. general condition good – very good.
