Else Ehrlich came from a long-established Jewish traders’ family. Her grandfather Samuel Ehrlich had been given the license for trading with cloths and opened a textile business in Obere Marktstrasse in Bad Kissingen. His son Felix Ehrlich further expanded the family business and was awarded the title “Royal Bavarian Purveyor to the Bavarian Court”. Since 1887 he ran a flourishing business at the corner of Ludwigstrasse/ Kurhausstrasse. After the marriage to Clara Oppenheim, Else was born in Bad Kissingen on April 29, 1884 as their second child.

After her marriage, Else Ehrlich and her husband Ernst Michelsohn moved into the Silesian city of Breslau/ Wroclaw (Charlottenstrasse 25). Their two children managed to flee from Germany during the Nazi Era in time: whereas Fred emigrated to Australia like his parents, his sister Steffie went to Palestine as early as November 1933. Steffie and her mother managed to visit Bad Kissingen again in 1937 for a short time, according to what her daughter Chana (Hanna) reported.

Else Michelsohn died in St. Kilda in 1961, her husband had already died in 1947.