Ernest Heyman was born 1918 in Berlin. He came to the UK to study architecture in 1936. He helped to get a domestic position for his future wife Lillian Lachmann. His mother's sister was Else Ury, a well known writer ('Nesth'kchen') who died in Auschwitz. Ernest was interned in Onken on the Isle of Man. He later joined the Pioneer Corps and the British Army. He studied architecture and worked as an architect for the NHS for many years. He is now retired and lives in London.