In 1920 he took his Abitur in Mannheim at the secondary school, then he studied law and political science, sociology and economics at the University of Heidelberg.

At the request of the board of the Reich Representation of German Jews in Berlin, he joined the latter, where he was mainly concerned with administrative issues and social tasks.

In late summer 1941, as representative of the Reich Association, together with Josef Löwenherz from the Vienna Israelite Community, Adolf Eichmann in the presence of Rolf Günther and Friedrich Suhr announced that in September 1941 all Jews in the Reich would be required to be labeled:[1] As of 19 September the Star of David had to be worn by anyone who legally was considered a Jew.

In January 1943, he was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto with his wife and Leo Baeck, where he was elected to succeed Jakob Edelstein as the elder (Judenältester).

As such, he was forced, among other things, to prepare deportations to the extermination camps and lied to Maurice Rossel during the International Committee of the Red Cross June 1944 visit to the ghetto.