Louis Asscher was a son of Eliazer Asscher and Rosalie van Hes.
Stadsarchief Amsterdam, archiefkaart Louis Asscher
Louis Asscher was married to Louise van Gelder. The couple had four children, who survived the war. The family lived in Amsterdam.
Louis Asscher was the son of a religious instructor. He was talented at making sketches, but his family lacked the means to pay for his education. At age 14 he took a job at the diamond factory and continued drawing in his free time. He loved to draw horses.
Louis Asscher was active in the religious-Zionist movement. He was treasurer of Mizrachi Nederland, and his wife Louise Asscher-van Gelder served on the board of the mizrachist women's movement Kolenoe. With the war approaching, the Asschers took German refugees into their home.
When Louis Asscher and his family had to prepare for deportation, he packed his phylacteries, prayer books, 25 sheets of paper and pieces of charcoal in his backpack in addition to the items required. His daughter said in an interview: 'The beauty of his drawings matters less than his effort to capture the nature of the camp on paper at Bergen-Belsen. He sketched a fellow camp inmate on his deathbed, bunk beds in the barrack, a watchtower, the roll-call site or a chunk of bread. I find the chunk of bread especially compelling, as it conveys hunger.'
L. Veerman, 'Louis Asscher door de muze geïnspireerd', Elah Infocus jg. 9, nr. 26, 2-3