Jacob van West was a son of David van West and Keetje Cohen. He was born in Amsterdam on 29 November 1894 and before he got married he worked as a butcher. In later years he worked as a transport worker, metalworker and fitter. When he was in concentration camp Vught in 1943, Jacob was put to work in Den Bosch as a worker in scrap iron.
On 19 May 1920, he married Judith Gobets in Amsterdam, who was born there on 13 May 1894 as a daughter of Jacob Gobets and Betje Barend, but they had no “own” home; they lived in at different addresses in the city with Judith's parents, Jacob's parents-in-law.
In that time they had three children; their second, son David, died only 2 days old - he died on 16 August 1928 and was buried the 17th at the Jewish Cemetery Zeeburg. Of the other two children, Betsie was born on 20 March 1921 when they lived in Valkenburgerstraat, and when they all lived at Retiefstraat 88, Keetje was born there on 1 May 1931.
From the available data from the archives it could be deduced that Jacob van West was carried off to Vught concentration camp in the night of 9 to 10 March 1943. His registration there was completed on 12 March 1943 and he was put to work in Den Bosch until 12 September 1943 as a "worker in scrap iron".
On 21 March 1944 Jacob was sent back from Vught to Westerbork and two days later on 23 March 1944 deported to Auschwitz a transport of 599 deportees. The deportation train arrived there about 26 March 1944, where Jacob van West was admitted and registered in the camp, where him was given prisoner number 175562.
Information from the archives of the former Auschwitz concentration camp shows that after arriving in Auschwitz, Jacob was put to work in Monowitz/Auschwitz III – subcamp Buna, and that he ended up in the prisoner hospital (Häftlingskrankenbau) from 9 to 16 May 1944. According to existing files, he also underwent dental treatment in the Buna subcamp on 1 June 1944,
Post-war research by the Red Cross has also shown that prisoners were "evacuated" elsewhere by means of train and foot transports from, among other things, the Auschwitz complex in the period 18 to 21 January 1945. For example, with those so-called evacuation transports, men from Auschwitz I and Auschwitz III also ended up in Buchenwald, to which Jacob van West also belonged.
Those evacuation transports by train departed in the aforementioned period and then arrived in Buchenwald on 22, 23 and 26 January 1945 respectively. In contrast to "normal transports", these train transports took place under very inhumane and harsh conditions, either in open- or packed together in closed wagons. As a result, many prisoners died of hunger, cold or suffocation during such a journey. (source: Red Cross publication Auschwitz VI from 1952 – page 25)
The administration of Buchenwald has also shown that Jacob van West was registered there on 26 January 1945 as “Schlosser” (fitter) and where he received prison number 121751. It also appeared from the so-called death books of Buchenwald that Jacob van West died soon afterwards, on 9 February 1945 and as it is described there, as a result of “sepsis and gangrene in both feet” (Sepsis bei Gangrän both Füsse).
Sources include the City Arcive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of David van West (1863) and Jacob Gobets; archive cards of Jacob van West, Judith Gobets and of Betsie and Keetje van West; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Jacob van West, Judith van West-Gobets, Betsie van West and Keetje van West; Wikipedia website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl/23 March 1943; website Museum & Memorial Auschwitz-Birkenau/Auschwitz Prisoners/Jacob van West; information from the archives of the former concentration camp Auschwitz I; website ITS Arolson/campkaart Vught voor Jacob van West and recording and death registration of Jacob van West in Buchenwald and the Dutch Red Cross archive/publication Auschwitz VI (6) edited in 1952/evacuation transports (Dutch language only).