Elfriede Toch collection

Elfriede Toch Lawson (1925-2010) was born 30 September 1925 in Vienna, Austria, the daughter of Hans (John) and Adele Toch. The Tochs owned a butcher shop specializing in venison and game, and had one other child, a son named Paul (b. 1922). Following the German annexation of Austria in 1938, the Tochs lost their business, and after Kristallnacht, Hans was arrested, and when he returned to his family after having been tortured, he was determined to emigrate. In 1939, Elfriede's family learned about the efforts of an American couple, Gilbert and Eleanor Kraus, to select and sponsor fifty Jewish children for immigration to the United States, and determined to enroll their children. Paul was older than the cut-off age, but Elfriede was accepted and joined the group that traveled with the Krauses to Philadelphia in June 1939. Eventually, the remainder of her family, who had been sponsored by Mrs. Yumpolsky from Los Angeles, were also able to immigrate to the United States, reuniting with Elfriede in the fall of 1939, and settling in Los Angeles. The Tochs started a new business there, a restaurant and catering business. Elfriede graduated from Fairfax High School in 1944, and married Martin Lawson in 1947. The couple, who remained in Los Angeles, had two children, Carolyn and Cindy. Elfriede died in Carlsbad, California on 29 March 2010.