Wilhelm Kahn and his wife Frieda originated from the part of Germany now known as Rhineland-Palatinate. When they came to live in Dortmund can no longer be established with certainty.

Before marrying Wilhelm Kahn in or around 1914, Frieda Kahn ran a fashion and haberdashery shop. Afterwards, the couple jointly kept a shop for boys’ and men’s clothing in the building at Köln-Berliner Str. 7.
Wilhelm and Frieda had no children.

The couple’s shop was closed down and deregistered in August 1938, and a short time later, Wilhelm and Frieda left Dortmund and moved to Brühl, where they stayed with relatives of Frieda. A few months later, they left Brühl and moved to Cologne. From there, they were deported in autumn 1941 to Lodz, and then once more in 1942 to Kulmhof/Chelmno concentration camp. There, they were murdered.