Jakob van Dam was a son of Victor van Dam and Jette van Hoorn. He was born in Stedum (Groningen) but lived at the village of Westerbork, where he was "headmaster". At age 43 he married in Haren on 31 October 1928 the 29-year old Anna Nathans, a daughter of Simon Nathans and Betje de Jong. As far as has been researched, this couple had no children.
Jakob's father-in-law, Simon Nathans, was already …