Born in 1886, Siegfried was one of nine children. His father, Isaac, owned a candy factory, and the family lived comfortably in the Polish city of Będzin. Siegfried (Shulem Mayer, in Yiddish) had a secular education and spoke Russian, German, and Polish fluently. As a young man, he traveled across Europe—and even to the United States—on business. His son Stanley would later remember him as a visionary; a man of business acumen and intuition. Around 1910, Siegfried met Salomea Waksberg through a matchmaker. They married and had two children, Stanley and Helena.