Max Schmal was born Max Schmul in Briesen on July 19, 1880, the son of Jakob Schmul, a master butcher, and his wife Minna, née Warschauer.

Ruth Türk was born in Gniezno on October 29, 1900, the daughter of Therese Türk, née Kantorowicz, and her husband. She had another sister Alice, who had polio. Ruth became a dressmaker and married the pharmacist Paul Schlome.

Paul Schlome was born in Janowitz/Poznan on May 15, 1886, the eldest son of Heinrich Schlome, a timber merchant, and his wife Auguste.

Julius Schlome was born on August 2, 1891 in Janowitz/Posen, the son of Hermann Schlome and his wife Auguste née Frost.

Hermann Schlome was born on January 21, 1857 in Janowitz into an Orthodox Jewish merchant family, became a lumber merchant, and married Auguste Frost.