Wilhelm Hesse, the son of the Orthodox Jewish businessman Samuel and Helene Hesse, was born in 1901 in Hamburg. After attending the Talmud Tora Realschule and the Oberrealschule in Eppendorf, he began studying law; in 1924 he received his doctoral diploma in law from the University of Hamburg.
In 1932 Wilhelm Hesse married Ruth Marcus, the daughter of Moritz and Erna Marcus. The following year they had their first daughter, Helen, born on June 30. The couple had a second daughter, Eva, born January 11, 1936. Following the events of Kristallnacht, on December 7, 1938 Helen and Eva Hesse were sent to Holland via Kindertransport . At the end of February 1939 Wilhelm and Ruth went with their daughters to London, where they stayed while awaiting their American visas. On June 16th 1939 the family left England for New York.
From the guide to the Helen and Eva Hesse Family Collection, 1882-1956, bulk 1933-1946, (Leo Baeck Institute)
