Biography

About Jacob de Jong and his wife Saartje Wijtvliet.

Jacob de Jong, merchant by profession, was a son of David de Jong and Sara Cohen and was born in Haarlem on 30 April 1910. He married on 24 August 1942 in the synagogue of Haarlem to Saartje Wijtvliet, who was born on 14 May 1920 in Rotterdam as daughter of Alida Velleman and Everhardus Wijtvliet. Jacob de Jong had an eight-year elder sister Maria, who was married to the dealer in woolen goods Mozes van Leeuwen from den Haag, and who was an undertaker too.

Jacob de Jong lived at Bakenessergracht 48-red in Haarlem, when he was registered by the Jewish Council in January 1941. He then was unmarried and later he lived at Kennemerstraat 15a-red. However, already soon after Jacob and Saartje had their chupah in the shul in Haarlem, Jacob was taken and via Westerbork deported direction Auschwitz on 23 October 1942.

This transport with 988 deportees, made a stop at Kozel, located ± 80 km west from Auschwitz where 170 men between 15 and 50 years of age were forced to leave the train. They were deployed as forced labourers in the surrounding labor camps of Auschwitz but they who remainded in the train, were transported onwards to Auschwitz to be killed there.

Most likely, Jacob de Jong belonged to that group of 170 men, but it is not known in which camp he eventually ended up and when exactly he lost his life. Therefore the Dutch Ministry of Justice after the war ordered the Municipality of Haarlem to draw up a certificate of death for Jacob de Jong, in which has been established that he has died in Mid Europe on 31 March 1944.

Sources include website Open Archieven.nl/birth certificate of Jacob de Jong from Haarlem nr. 525; the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Saartje Wijtvliet; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Jacob de Jong and Saartje de Jong-Wijtvliet; certificate of death for Jacob de Jong, made out in Haarlem on 9 February 1952 nr. C-28 and the Wikipedia website jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.

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