The family of the cantor of the Jewish community in Wiesbaden, Edmund Isaak Capell, was known for its liberal attitude and its commitment to a vibrant Judaism. Capell worked as a cantor and teacher at public schools for almost 20 years. In the 1930s, he was chairman of the "Association of Israelite Teachers in the former Duchy of Nassau". His wife Alice Capell, who spoke fluent English and French, helped the children with their homework and provided help and advice to families in need. Because of her compassion and her ability to take practical action, she was known as the "mother of the community".

The eldest daughter, Ruth Capell, was involved in the Jewish youth movement and led a girls' group of the German-Jewish hiking association "Die Kameraden" when she was just twelve years old. In 1930, she went to Berlin to study at the "Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums". She strictly rejected Zionism and saw herself as rooted in German culture.

Her sister Hannah was also a member of the German-Jewish Wanderbund. She helped organize parents' evenings and youth trips to the Taunus. Both daughters were sports enthusiasts and culturally interested; they attended the Wiesbaden theater and played music. Hanna Capell led a choir. When Hannah Capell was banned from the Opelbad on the Neroberg as a Jew after the National Socialists came to power in 1933, she decided to emigrate and emigrated to Palestine in 1934. There she co-founded what is now the city of Nahariya.

In 1935, Ruth Capell married Heinz Liebrecht, who had led a group of "comrades" in Mannheim. During the Reich Pogrom Night on November 9/10, 1938, he was arrested and temporarily detained in Dachau concentration camp. After his release, the couple fled to England, where Heinz Liebrecht founded a society for the promotion of music and was made a Member of the British Empire by Prince Charles for his services to classical music. Edmund and Alice Capell visited their daughter Ruth twice in Palestine and returned to Germany because Edmund Capell wanted to say goodbye to his community and "put his affairs in order" before his official departure. However, the couple were no longer able to leave Germany.

The couple were trapped, persecution by the National Socialists hit them relentlessly. In 1940, they were forcibly relocated to a "Jews' house". On September 1, 1942, the couple was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. Edmund Capell died there only a short time later, while his wife Alicia Capell survived the inhumane living conditions until June 1944. Then she also died.