Valeska Krolik was born in Berlin on March 20, 1868, the daughter of the merchant Siegmund Krolik and his wife Berta, née Seegall.

Margarete Liebert was born into a Jewish family in Sondershausen on October 9, 1895. She moved to Berlin and married the merchant Ernst Koopmann, for him it was the second marriage. He had a daughter Renate from his first marriage, who was born in Berlin on July 23, 1931. Ernst and Margarete Koopmann then moved after 1938 to a relative of Margarete Koopmann, the widowed Jenny Liebert, at Beckerstrasse 5 in Schöneberg.

Ernst Koopmann was born into a Jewish family in Bremen on February 14, 1902. He became a merchant, moved to Berlin and married Betty Scharlinski, who was born in Berlin on August 25, 1905. Their daughter Renate was born on July 23, 1931.