Herta Reich was born in Eubigheim, Germany to Adolf and Jeanette Reich (nee Frank). Her father was a cattle dealer and was involved in the Jewish community in Eubigheim. She was the fourth of seven children in the family, and had two sisters and four brothers. In Herta's youth in Eubigheim, she was taught by the cantor and religious instructor William "Willie" Wertheimer, who lived in the village. Wertheimer mentioned her and her siblings in his memoir, "Zwishen zwei Welten; der Förster von Brooklyn. Lebenserinnerungen des ehemaligen jüdischen Lehrers in Eubigheim und Buchen in Baden." (Between two worlds: the Brooklyn forest ranger)
Many Jewish residents of Eubigheim left Germany for the United States in the early 20th century. As Nazi persecution of Jews increased in Germany, the remaining Jewish residents of Eubigheim also left in search of a safer home. The village synagogue was sold in 1937. By early 1939 every Jewish individual had left the village, including Herta.
Herta came to Holland in December 1936, settling in Amsterdam, but safety did not last long. In July 1942, she was deported. According to camp records, she spent one night in Westerbork before being put on a train to the east. She arrived in Auschwitz on July 17, 1942, and was one of about 100 women to be spared from death in the initial camp selection.
According to Auschwitz's camp records, Herta died on August 19, 1942 at the age of 27. Other documents from Amsterdam indicate that she died in late September 1942. She was the only person in her immediate family to perish at Auschwitz.
Herta's parents, Adolf and Jeanette, emigrated to the United States in 1938. Her sibling also settled in New York, as did many aunts, uncles, cousins and a grandparent. It is thought that Herta's family did not know what had happened to her until after the war. In the 1950s her father, Adolf, contacted the International Tracing Service and was informed of her death. However, family histories such as the one maintained by Willie Wertheimer say only that she was "deported under Hitler" and do not speak directly of her fate.
Verhaal