Irene Mann was born in Bad Kissingen on August 26, 1903 as the daughter of the butcher Lazarus Mann and his wife Cilly, née Löwenberger. She had five siblings. The family lived in Weingasse, where Cilly’s father ran a butchery. He already died before the beginning of Nazi dictatorship in February 1932.

Irene Mann became a caretaker. The depressing experiences and economic difficulties during the Nazi Era made her and her mother move to Hamburg on April 14, 1936 and plan the flight to America. Irene Mann and her brother Kurt succeeded in escaping to the USA in September 1936.

Her brothers Justin, Theobald (Teddy) and her mother Cilly could also flee to New York. Her twin sister Luzie and her brother Max, however, were victims of Shoa. Little is known about Irene Mann's further life. After her naturalization she married Alfred Silberstein in Manhattan in February 1943 and continued to live in New York, where she died in June 1995 at the age of 91.