Jacob van Gelder was the eldest son of Machiel van Gelder and Sarah de Roos. He married 12 April 1928 in Haarlem to the non-Jewish widow of Franciscus Hendrikus Jacobus van Bennekom, Dirkje Paardenkooper.
On 11 November 1942 the "Sicherheitspolizei" did a raid on the factories of Hollandia Kattenburg and all Jewish employees have been deported. Jacob van Gelder was employed there as a deputy manager. The next day, 12 November 1942 registration in Camp Westerbork followed and on 30 November Jacob van Gelder was deported to Auschwitz, where he has been killed immediately upon arrival there on 3 December 1942.
Jacob had a younger brother Samuel Henri van Gelder, who has been deported from Mechelen to Auschwitz on 8 September 1942 with Convoy VIII. Jacob's sister Angeline has survived the war.
City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Machiel van Gelder; website www.wiewaswie.nl, wedding of Jacob van Gelder & Dirkje Paardenkooper; file cabinet of the Jewish Council, card of Jacob van Gelder.