Karl Herzberg, a tradesman or businessman, originally came from Breidenbach, and in 1927 married Johanna Reuter from Iserlohn. Their daughter Rotraud was born in Iserlohn in 1928.

There are contradictory indications regarding the religious affiliation of the Herzberg family: In contemporary sources, the family is recorded as Protestant. In the documents for the restitution proceedings, however, Karl Herzberg is stated as being of Jewish faith.

The exact circumstances of Karl Herzberg’s death are also not known. While he does not appear to have been detained at Steinwache police station in the wake of the “Pogrom night”, his death occurred on 12 November 1939, i.e. only a few days after the events of the “Pogrom night”, in a Jewish hospital in Cologne.

Johanna survived the Holocaust and died in 1967. Rotraud Herzberg also survived, and moved in 1953 from Frankfurt am Main to Canada.