When his mother died of colorectal cancer in 1941, Hans and his younger brother Gert (born 1932) found themselves in the orphanage.

Starting in 1940, Hans was forced to participate in unfree labour, while his brother was deported and like many other relatives murdered in the Holocaust.

After Hans escaped the last major roundup of Berlin Jews (the Fabrikaktion) in early 1943, he went into hiding and until 1945 was able to stay at a safe house in a small garden allotment in Berlin-Lichtenberg, where three German women helped him to survive.

However, he soon came into conflict with the supervisors of the Soviet Military Administration and from 1948 onwards worked for the Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor (RIAS), a broadcaster controlled by the American occupying forces.

Rosenthal started a foundation called Schnelle Hilfe in Akuter Not (which roughly translates as "Fast Help in Dire Need").

[4] In 1986, along with Paul Spiegel, he started an international media agency, which promoted actors, TV presenters and artists.