Leopold Reis was born in Freudenberg am Main on July 21, 1903, the son of the merchant Mendel Reis and his wife Babette née Sommer.

Diethild Gerechter was born in Posen on January 25, 1911, the daughter of the wealthy merchant Hugo Gerechter and his wife Martha, née Gottschalk.

Auguste Lichtenstein was born into a Jewish family in Posen on September 2, 1861. She married the merchant Jakob Rehfeld, and their daughter Gertrud was born in Berlin on May 5, 1891. The family lived in Kreuzberg, Lankwitzstraße 5 when in 1913 the daughter Gertrud married the merchant Hermann Goldschmidt.