Biography

About Jacob de Paauw

Jacob ("Jaap") de Paauw was one of the five children of Samuel de Paauw and Keetje Soubice.
Like his late father, Jaap was a diamond worker. In the twenties, he lost his job. He was unemployed for years and eventually lived on the dole with his wife and children. Under these circumstances, he felt obliged to step back as chairman of the soccerclub 'Eendracht Doet Winnen' (later known as HEDW, 'Hortus-Eendracht Doet Winnen'), of which he had been one of the founders in 1913. Subsequently, he was elected as honorary chairman. The German administration dissolved the club.
During the war, Jaap was a member of the resistance. He spread illegal newspapers and helped other Jews to go into hiding. He was held up in his own home in the Javastraat. Together with him, his nephew Samuel de Paauw, a son of his brother (513204|Tobias)) and a child with the surname of Benjamins that had been saved from the kindergarten opposite of the Hollandsche Schouwburg, were also picked up.
Jaap was held in the prison at the Amstelveenseweg for some months before being transported to Westerbork. His family received a postcard from Westerbork in March '44, in which Jaap wrote that he was about to be deported eastwards.
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