After working at another Jewish bookstore in the neighborhood, Hirsch (Tzvi) Lewin opened his own at Grenadierstra;e 28 in 1930, calling it the "Hebräische Buchhandlung" although it sold a wide variety of Judaica (ritual items) in addition to Jewish books. Rare books were kept in the basement. Another one of the store's sidelines, gramophone records, became its new specialty as Lewin founded the Semer music label in 1932 and began recording Jewish singers, especially cantors and theatrical performers, in a recording studio inside the bookshop.

The origins of the company Manus Katzenstein go back to the year 1842, when an ironmonger who had moved to the area founded the business. The founder was Manus Katzenstein, who was born in Erdmannsrode around 1788. Over the years, the business developed into a respected metal and iron shop and was still located at 52 Wolfhager Stra&szlig. The increasing industrialization of Kassel at the turn of the century as well as the prospering business prompted the owner Moritz Katzenstein to give up the old company location in 1905 and to move it to Sanderhauml;user Straße 17.

Herbert M. Gutmann was born in Dresden on October 15, 1879. His father was Eugen Gutmann, long-time chairman of Dresdner Bank. After studying economics, Herbert M. Gutmann joined Dresdner Bank. In 1910 he was elected to the bank's Board of Managing Directors. He was a co-founder, director and later also president of Deutsche Orient-Bank. In 1919, Herbert M. Gutmann acquired the estate of his uncle, the banker Dr. Ernst Heller, which he had already leased in 1913, and converted it into a luxurious villa in country house style, the "Herbertshof " (1919-1926).

In the Berlin Address Book Edition 1874 - Alphabetical List of the Inhabitants of Berlin with Indication of their Status and Dwellings including all Commercial Companies - Lipman Wulf, Baumwollwarenfabrik, Papenstraße 10, Pt. - Owners Siegmund Lipmann Wulf, Moritz Lipmann Wulf and Philip Wulf.  -  Lipmann Wuf was born on November 17, 1798 in Landsberg a.d. Warthe and was married to Rachel Friederike Wulf, née Schlesinger. Lipman Wulf died in Berlin on February 20, 1864.