lev aronson was born february 7, 1912, in mönchengladbach, germany. aronson's parents, zorach and pessa, along with their first infant son, had moved to germany in 1911 so zorach could study tailoring at the fachhoschule (school of fashion) in berlin. zorach and pessa's infant son died in 1911. lev was born a few weeks before his father graduated from the fachhoschule. about three weeks after lev's birth, the family returned to their home in mitava in the courland region of the russian empire (presently jelgava, latvia).