Simon Dasberg was appointed chief rabbi of Friesland in 1929. In 1931 he was appointed chief rabbi of Groningen. He was a driving force behind the construction of the shul for young adults in Groningen. He was particularly involved in education and with the smaller Jewish communities in his district.
Simon Dasberg was married to Isabella Franck from Altona in Germany. He was a devout adherent of Mizrachi. In the summer he spent part of his holiday at the Mizrachi youth camps. In 1939 he travelled to Palestine. He spoke about the life he hoped to lead with his family in Palestine some day.
On 6 December 1942 the congregation council of the Dutch-Jewish Main Synagogue in Amsterdam, acting as the synagogue district assembly for Amsterdam, appointed Simon Dasberg deputy rabbi of Amsterdam. He remained chief rabbi of Groningen and continued to be based there.
Simon Dasberg was deported with his wife to Bergen-Belsen via Westerbork. He was killed two days after his wife on 22 February 1945.
Het Joodsche Weekblad, 11 December 1942, 1;
Het Joodsche Weekblad, 18 December 1942, 1;
M.H. Gans, Memorboek. Platenatlas van het leven der joden in Nederland van de middeleeuwen tot 1940 (6e bijgewerkte druk; Baarn 1988) 800-801;
S. de Jong, Joods leven in de Friese hoofdstad 1920-1945. Voltooid verleden tijd (Leeuwarden, 1970) 35
See for more information: R. Fuks-Mansfeld (red.), Joden in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw. Een biografisch woordenboek (Utrecht 2007) 63