Hirsch Lengel - Trade in raw materials, coal and scrap metal

Hirsch Lengel was born in 1873 in the small Galician town of Dąbrowa, which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Around 1897, he married Bertha Lengel, née Lirt, who also came from Dąbrowa. At that time, there was a large Jewish community in the town, but it was very difficult for Jews to earn a living, and after the birth of their fourth child in 1903, the Lengel family decided to leave Dąbrowa. They hoped that life for their growing family in Germany, and especially in Lüneburg, could be better than in politically and economically troubled Galicia.As a merchant, Hirsch Lengel specialized in trading raw materials, coal and scrap metal. The Lengels worked hard, they were successful and their business did well. Four more children were born between 1904 and 1909, and by 1909 Hirsch Lengel had already begun to sell and donate items - from ironwork, weights and scales to cranes - to the Lüneburg Museum. He obviously felt very attached to Lüneburg and its history, and in 1923 the Lengels became German citizens. After the beginning of Nazi rule, their citizenship was revoked in 1935. They were now officially stateless, which also meant that they were without any protection. In the spring of 1937, the chambers of commerce and the NSDAP forced the Jewish junk dealers and antique shops out of business as part of the efforts to de-Jewishize them.The closure of the Lengel business took a while because Hirsch Lengel repeatedly asked the authorities to give him a little more time to sell off his goods. Jakob Lengel fled to England in June 1939 and later to the USA.