Gad was born on June 30, 1923, together with his twin sister Miriam. Gad’s mother Hedwig came from a Protestant family, but converted to Judaism before the marriage with Heinrich Beck in 1920. The children were raised according to Jewish traditions, supported by the Christian relatives. In 1934 Gad changed to the Jewish school in the Grosse Hamburger Strasse. In 1939 his parents were forced to move into the predominantly Jewish section of Berlin. They could no longer afford the school fees, Gad started to work as an apprentice.