Erna Sternberg was the daughter of Levi Sternberg, a cattle dealer, and his wife Cornelia Sternberg, née Herz (born 28 January 1869 in Hitdorf). The couple had seven children:

Daughter Erna, born 19.9.1889 in Iserlohn
Daughter Selma, born 11.7.1892 in Iserlohn
Son Friedrich Albert (Fritz), born 28.8.1895 in Dortmund
Daughter Margarete/Grete, born 27.8.98 in Iserlohn
Daughter Elly, born 11.11.1900 in Iserlohn
Son Walter, born 9.2.1902 in Iserlohn
Son Alfred, born 22.11.1903 in Iserlohn

Between 1903 and 1907, the family left Iserlohn and went to live at Königswall 93 in Dortmund.
Daughter Elly Sternberg died on 18 August 1923 at the age of 22, son Walter on 22 November 1929 at the age of 27.

After three of the children had left home, the parents, along with the remaining children Erna and Alfred, deregistered at the end of December 1938 from their home at Westenhellweg with the destination of Cologne. The family had previously lived most of the time at Evinger Strasse 487. In Cologne, the wife, Cornelia Sternberg, died on 24 October 1939.

Daughter/sister Selma Sternberg, now Szochur, was deported together with her husband Daniel Szochur and their two children, Adolf Horst and Elly Szochur, on 27 January 1942 to Riga. Daniel   Szochur and Adolf Horst were already murdered in Riga; Selma Szochur and Elly were transported in 1944 to Stutthof, where they were murdered on 18 November and 9. August 1944 respectively.

Son/brother Friedrich Sternberg married Maria Schad, a non-Jew, in 1932. He ran a commission agency business for fat and oil products at Viktoriastr. 30. In February 1939, his business was closed down by official order. In 1939, he and his wife were divorced, presumably because of the growing pressure of persecution. The wife resumed her maiden name in June 1939. On 8 June 1939, Friedrich Sternberg moved to his family in Cologne. What later became of him is unknown. It is, however, certain that he fell victim to the Shoah.

Daughter/sister Margarete worked as a household help and went to live in Rietberg in March 1938. In 1941, she married in Berlin and took the surname Warschawsky. Her last address was Heilbronner Str. 22 in Schöneberg. On 2 March 1943 she was deported to Auschwitz, where she was murdered.

The youngest son/brother, Alfred Sternberg, survived the Shoah and died in 1982.