Biography

About Jacob Brandon and his wife Benvenida Rodrigues Parreira.

Jacob Brandon was a son of Aaron Brandon and Mietje Drievoet. He was born as the 2nd child on 28 January 1877 in Amsterdam, however, his mother died two days later in childbirth on 30 January 1877.

Jacob Brandon had an elder sister Jetje, who was born on 19 November 1873 and also a younger half-sister Flora, born on 8 April 1884, after his 30-year old father Aaron remarried the 38-year old Hendrika de Haas from Wageningen in on 7 December 1881 in Amsterdam.

Just like his father, Jacob was in work in the diamond industry. Jacob was a member of the ANDB, the trade union for diamond workers and he was trained as rose-diamond polisher, rose-diamond adjuster and brilliant polisher. His membership commenced on 7 March 1899 and he was in work in the sections 5, 6 and 2. On 17 January 1920 he left for Antwerp, but returned to Amsterdam on 13 April 1920.

On 10 August 1898, Jacob Brandon married Benvenida Rodrigues Parreira, the youngest daughter from the 2nd marriage of Ester Meljado and David Rodrigues Parreira, with whom she had five children.

With her first husband, Haim Pezarro, to whom she was married in 1851, Ester Meljado had two children, Eleazar and Ester, but Haim Pezarro passed away on 22 August 1855, after which she entered into a second marriage on 5 September 1860. 

After Jacob Brandon had married Benvenida Rodrigues Parreira, they lived at Lepelstraat 58 1st floor in Amsterdam. Till Jacob’s depart from Amsterdam to Antwerp, in January 1920, they lived already at four addresses in the city. In Antwerp, Jacob lived at Hoveniersstraat 47, but his wife Benvenida remained living in Amsterdam at Nieuwe Achtergracht 132 1st floor.

It looks like that Jacob  was not so successful as a diamond polisher in Antwerp because already after four months he returned to Amsterdam. Benvenida and Jacob then moved to Hilversum on 20 May 1924 where they resided at Eemnesserweg 137. In the meantime, Jacob had chosen another profession and earned his living now as a dealer in fuels.

In July 1934 Jacob and Benvenida returned to Amsterdam, where they came to live in the Mauritsstraat 13 1st floor. After three more removals they moved to Eerste Oosterparkstraat 139 3rd floor on 28 February 1939, which became also their last known address in Amsterdam. From there they were taken on 25 March 1943 and carried off to Westerbork, where they ended up in barrack 61.

Five days later, on 30 March 1943, they were both deported with the 5th transport to Sobibor, including 1255 deportees in total. Upon arrival there on 2 April 1943, they were immediately murdered in the gas chambers.

Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Aaron Brandon en Jacob Brandon; archive cards of Benvenida Rodrigues Parreira and Jacob Brandon;website archives of the Diamond workers trade union/membership of Jacob Btrandon; the Dossier of Foreigners of the City of Antwerp nr 160515; the file cabinet of the Jeswish Council, registration cards of Benvenida Brandon-Rodrigues Parreira and Jacob Brandon and the wikipedia website jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.

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