Herbert Einstädter was born in Königshofen/ Grabfeld on October 5, 1912 as the only child of the merchant Karl Einstädter and his wife Ida, née Hessberg. His mother Ida, who had been born in Berkach in Thuringia in 1882, moved to Königshofen after her marriage in 1903. She already died in 1913, a short time after Herbert was born. The widely branched Einstädter family had been living in Königshofen for generations and had mainly worked in the piece goods business. The Einstädters were also actively engaged in the Jewish Community of the town and held the office of the head of the cultural community for several decades.
 

Herbert’s father Karl, who was a merchant, was the head of the Religious Board of the Jewish Community for many years. In 1931, he could celebrate his 25^th jubilee in his position. He died before the beginning of the Nazi Era in May 1932.

When he was 16, Herbert Einstädter moved to Bad Kissingen in April 1929 and started an apprenticeship as a merchant in Arthur Grünebaum’s textile business. At first, he lived as a tenant with Klara Dreifuß in Ludwigstrasse, later in Theresienstrasse. When he had finished his apprenticeship, he stayed on in the spa town and continued working as a commercial clerk in the Grünebaums’ textile business till his emigration. In January 1937, he left Bad Kissingen and spent several weeks in Berkach in Thuringia. He probably wanted to say goodbye to family members or acquaintances of his mother who had been born there. Shortly afterwards he went on board the “SS Manhattan” in Hamburg and arrived in New York harbour in the February of the same year.

Herbert Einstädter, who called himself Herbert Ellis after his emigration, moved to Chicago where he married Chicago-born Adele Chapman in February 1942. Herbert and Adele Ellis had three children: Robert, Richard and Howard. In World War II, Herbert Ellis served as a soldier in the US Army. In his profession, he continued working in the textile business and was a successful businessman for over 60 years.

Herbert Ellis revisited Germany in the late 1990s, and the more detailed circumstances show that the traumatic experiences of the Nazi era were still alive 60 years later. His son Robert remembers: "My Father did revisit Germany once as a part of a Baltic Sea Cruise. Although I am not certain of the date, it was likely around the summer of 1997 or 1998. His ship docked in the Port of Hamburg taking him back to where the rest of his life began so many years ago. He told me that as he disembarked the ship, the memories became so painful that he turned around and reboarded the ship. Regardless, he was glad he tried and actually had his feet on German soil" (Information Robert Ellis, Mail 01-20-2021).

His wife Adele died in August 1980 and Herbert Einstädter outlived her by 25 years. He died in Munster in the State of Indiana in November 2005 at the age of 93.