My maternal grandparents, Olga and Sam Schonwald, owned  an electrical supply and repair store in Vienna. They purchased a house which was furnished with many pictures and other interesting objects, including this lamp. After the Anschluss (when Germany took over Austria) the store was closed as it was owned by a Jewish family.  Olga had an uncle in Seattle, Washington who provided an affidavit for them.  On March 26, 1939, they left Vienna with their daughter, Lisl, age 20 (my mother) and joined the family in Seattle.  They were permitted to take only furniture with them.  As a child I was afraid of the "leopard lamp"  but have come to cherish it as part of my family history.  It is now in my NYC apartment. 

– Dorothy Fisher Papo

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant