Lucy Lang

Lucy was born in Vienna, Austria, to Adolph and Paula Pappenheim.

On March 12^th , 1938, The Anschluss with Germany was announced. It was close to Purim and Lucy’s mother was baking for the holiday. Lucy’s home was invaded by a gang of neighbors. Lucy and her sister watched in terror as her mother was dragged out and forced to scrub a monument across the street.

In April of 1938 the family was evicted from their home and the children were not allowed to go to school

On December 22,1938, Lucy (age 15) and her older sister Erica (age 16) were taken to the Westbahnhof Railroad Station in Vienna. Their possessions in hand – 2 little suitcases – they said good bye to their parents.
They were the lucky ones to get on a Kindertransport to England. This rescue operation was organized by Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld of London..
Her brother, Karli, (age 13) could not get on the Kindertransport but was fortunate to receive a certificate to go to Palestine..

Lucy and her sister were the oldest children on the transport (the cut off age was 16) so they helped out with the younger children. They arrived in London on Christmas Eve and were sent to a B’nai Brith home.

Lucy’s parents barely got out of Vienna in November of 1939 and went to New York. They sent for Lucy and Erica and she was reunited with her parents in May 1940.
Lucy and her sister got jobs. Lucy was working at the Jewish Welfare Board.

In January,1949, Lucy married Edmond Lang (originally from Switzerland) and ten weeks later, her sister Erica married Edmond’s friend, Ludwig Jesselson. The two couples always remained close and lived near each other - first on the West Side in Manhattan and then in Riverdale.
Lucy, her sister, and their families, continued the Pappenheim family tradition of activism on behalf of the Jewish community and dedication to the Kehillah.

Lucy and Edmond were part of the “pioneering” group that had the vision of starting a new kind of school for educating Jewish children.
That school is the SAR Academy in Riverdale.
At the yearly graduation ceremonies, graduates receive a sefer to guide them into the future, a sefer dedicated to the memory of Edmond Lang.

Pre- WWII Jewish Vienna, Austria

Jewish Vienna, WW II

The Jewish Community of Vienna

http://www.bh.org.il/communities/Archive/vienna.asp

Anschluss

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anschluss