Born on 13th November 1888 in Chrzanow, Ignacy Izaak Schwarzbart, son of Markus Saul and Chana, née Michalik, was a lawyer, politician and a publicist. A deputy to the Sejm of the 6th term (1938-1939), member of the National Council of the Polish authorities in exile, board member of the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow (1924-1936) as well as a city council member (1933-1939).

A 1908 graduate of a gymnasium in Podgorze who studied Law at the Jagiellonian University and obtained his PhD title in1913. After finishing university, he ran his own law firm. During WWI, he served in the Austro-Hungarian Army and later on in the Polish Army. Between 1921–1925, Schwarzbart was the editor-in-chief of Nowy Dziennik, a local Zionist newspaper in Krakow. A member of the Administrative Committee of the World Jewish Congress who arranged help for the Jews during Holocaust. Schwarzbart left for the US in 1946 where he continued his involvement in various international Jewish organisations. The Jad Waszem Institute is in the possession of approx. 300 files connected with Schwarzbart’s activities.

Ignacy Izaak Schwarzbart died on 26th April 1961 in New York.

Picture: NAC