Leeser (Elieser) Rosenthal was born in Nasielsk, Poland on 13 April 1794 (13 Nisan 5554) to a family of rabbis and teachers.
The occupation of the Netherlands led to the dismissal of curator Hirschel and his assistant M.S. Hillesum (1894-1943) in November 1940, and the closing of the reading room in the summer of 1941.