He was born in Breslau, Prussia (now the Polish city of Wrocław), into a wealthy Polish-Jewish family whose parents had come to Breslau from Pilica, near Zawiercie, in 1854.
El s-a năascut la Breslau, Prusia (astăzi orașul polonez Wrocław) într-o familie bogată de evrei a cărui părinți au venit la Breslau de la Pilica, din apropiere de Zawiercie, în 1854.