Heinrich Gimpel was a civilian working as an analyst at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht headquarters in Berlin. He was one of the few surviving Jews left in the Greater German Reich a secret he kept from his colleagues. Heinrich was married to Lise Gimpel and they had three children: Alicia, Francesca and Roxane. As customary, Heinrich and Lise told Alicia she was Jewish when she reached the age of 10. They did so in the presence of their fellow Jews; Susanna Weiss and the Stutzmans.