Jacob Ehrlich was born in Bistrica, Moravia (now in the Czech Republic). Ehrlich studied at the University of Vienna, where he became involved in Zionist activity. After moving to Vienna in 1908, Jacob Ehrlich was elected to the board of the Jewish Community, as one of the first Zionists (1912). He served in the Austrian army in the WWI as a high officer, and saved Russian Jews from false accusations. Ehrlich was member of the Vienna city council (1924), Chairman of the Zionist Federation of Austria (1925). He was instrumental in obtaining a Zionist majority in the Jewish Community (1932), and was elected vice president of the Jewish Community (1936). Ehrlich was arrested by the Germans after the Anschluss, and murdered by the Gestapo. The Society of Austrian Jews in England is called after him.