Arthur Stern was born on October 6, 1891 in Langen Schwalbach, Germany, and was raised in Limburg. He was injured during World War I and lost the use of his left hand. He met his future wife, Irma Israel, while recuperating at the hospital in Stuttgart. They married on October 31, 1918, and had two children, Walter and Dorothy. Arthur became a member of the RJF in Germany, the equivalent of the Jewish War Veterans in the United States. He studied at the Universities at Marburg au der dalm and Frankfurt am Main and received his CPA equivalent. Due to rapidly deteriorating conditions in Germany concerning Jews, both children were sent to the United States in 1937 and 1938 respectively, while he arrived in the United States in 1939.