Joseph van Praagh was born on 10 December 1880 in Scheveningen. He came from a large family. Just like his brothers, he worked in the meat trade as a butcher and wholesaler. He got married in 1905. The couple had two children. When they went into hiding, one of the chidlren was married.
With his wife, two children and another relative through marriage, Joseph van Praagh was hiding out with Jan and Albertha Willemsen at 6 Da Costastraat in Veenendaal, where they slept with four people in a small room on the top floor. Joseph van Praagh died on 20 May 1943 in his hiding place from a lingering throat illness. He was buried temporarily underneath the rabbit hutch and after the war he was reburied in the Jewish cemetery at the Parallelweg in Veenendaal.
The wife of Joseph van Praagh and one of his children survived the war. His wife had great difficulty obtaining a death certificate in the name of her husband after the war. At the end of 1947, she managed to do it. In the alfabethical list of those who died in 1943 in Veenendaal town, Joseph van Praagh is added on in pencil.
His wife died on 14 May 1955. She was buried in the public cemetery in Wassenaar. Her tombstone states the name and place of death of Joseph van Praag.
M. Brink and D. van Kreveld, Geschiedenis van de Joodse gemeenschap in Stichts en Gelders Veenendaal (Veenendaal 2001) 285
In addition, a Jokos file (number 53336) on this family is at the Amsterdam Municipal Archive. Access is subject to authorization from the Stichting Joods Maatschappelijk Werk.