Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Esch kuma ya girma a Memel (Klaipėda). A karshen shekarar 1944 an kwashe shi
zuwa Mecklenburg, inda aka tattara shi zuwa aikin soja a matsayin Navy <unk> Flakhelfer. A cikin 1946 Esch ya fara karatun doka a Jami'ar Rostock kuma ya zama memba na Jam'iyyar Liberal Democratic ta Jamus (LDPD). Ya yi adawa da jagorancin jagorancin kungiyar matasa na Freie Deutsche Jugend kuma an zabe shi a cikin kwamitin LDPD a shekarar 1948 da kwamitin zartarwa na LDPD a shekarar 1949. Ya kasance co-marubucin "Eisenacher shirin" na LDPD.