By Andrea Tognina (text) and Helen James (picture editor)

The Jewish community in Switzerland regularly collected donations to help fellow Jews fleeing Nazi persecution and those already seeking refuge in Switzerland. This collection box belonged to a Jewish relief organisation in Basel.

Letter accompanying a passport sent by Rudolf Hügli to Leo Weingort in Leopoli, Ukraine, in May 1941. Hügli advised Weingort to secure a Japanese transit visa to reach Paraguay via Kobe, Japan.

Having secured his Paraguayan passport, Weingort had to wait for his fiancée Ester to receive hers. But it arrived too late: Leo and Ester were interned at Vittel, France, before being sent to Auschwitz, where they died.

A telegram sent in April 1943 by Aguda, an organisation supporting orthodox Jews, thanking Chaim Eiss for his help.