Henny's parents met soon after her father emigrated from Russia. Henny was born in Frankfurt am Main, and was the first of the Jewish couple's two daughters and a son. Frankfurt was an important center of commerce, banking, industry and the arts.

After the Nazis came to power, they began to persecute a large number of "undesirable" groups, including Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, the handicapped, and left-wing politicians. After 1938, as one way of identifying Jews, a Nazi ordinance decreed that "Sara" was to be added in official papers to the first name of all Jewish women. Twenty-four-year-old Henny was working as a shop assistant, and was living with her family.

In early 1940 Henny was arrested in Frankfurt and deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women. On the back of her prisoner photo was written: "Jenny (sic) Sara Schermann, born February 19, 1912, Frankfurt am Main. Unmarried shopgirl in Frankfurt am Main. Licentious lesbian, only visited such [lesbian] bars. Avoided the name 'Sara'. Stateless Jew."

Henny was among a number of Ravensbrück prisoners selected for extermination. In 1942 she was gassed at the Bernburg killing facility.