Abstract

Hugo Lang, Jehudo ben Arye, was the second son of Leopold Lang, born in Ernsbach on April 24, 1923. He moved to Süssen with his family in 1925, where his father joined the cattle business of his uncle Louis. Hugo, his older brother Fred, and his baby sister Ruth grew up in Süssen, attended elementary school, participated in local sports, enjoyed hiking with the local nature society, took piano lessons, and helped with the family chores. After leaving elementary school in grade 8, Hugo apprenticed himself to the Restaurant/Club Moos in Ulm to train as a bar tender. However, the club was shut down after Kristallnacht, and Hugo was detailed to forced labor in Süssen. Although the entire family had applied for visas to the United States well before Kristallnacht, only Hugo was still able to escape before deportation of the family. His brother Fred, who had emigrated to England in 1939 and from there to the U.S., met him at the boat. Hugo found work, but soon volunteered for the military, became a U.S. citizen, and was shipped back to Europe, where he fought the Germans and was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. Hugo spent six months in Stalag IX near Frankfurt, the ante-chamber to Berga, the notorious concentration camp that few inmates survived. Upon returning to the United States, he met and married Inge Feldtmann from Berlin who had survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Hugo, who was reunited with his surviving sister and cousins in 1946, worked for Bristol-Meyers as an engineer for the better part of his life.

Share