Her husband Jonah had left to England first and Esther followed him with the two boys, arriving in 1910. They had a very traumatic experience as in Germany her bag of documents was stolen and they had some trouble with the police. Because of this, Isaac was traumatised and was always scared of authority throughout his life.

When the war broke out, Jonah returned to Russia as he wanted to fight, and as an alien in Britain he could not. When he was boarding a train at Liverpool Street Station, the family went with them and his son, Isaac, ran after him down the platform, begging him not to go.

It is thought that he was killed by the Bolsheviks in 1917.

Esther was widowed in 1917, and with two small boys and no English, she ended up becoming a cigarette maker.

Isaac and his wife Lottie had a long courtship. Lottie lived in Stepney Green buildings and Isaac used to visit and there were all Jewish people in the flat and they would sit outside in the summer. There was a man there called Ginger Mister Isaacs who was also from Russia and used to chat with Isaac. He told Isaac that Jonah had gone back to Russia because he had another woman there, as he'd seen Jonah with her during the war.

However, he was greatly mourned by his wife and sons despite this, so this story may have only been hearsay.