 Adler fled Germany after the Nazis seized power and emigrated to England, where he worked first at a German-Jewish refugee school in Kent, then as a writer with the German Service of BBC Radio.Adler was born to Jewish parents in Carlsbad, Bohemia.His mother was Therese Adler (née Hirsch) and his father was Moritz Adler, editor and critic with the social democratic newspaper, "Volkswille" and an elected representative.