Jozua Paur, born on 13 November 1907 in Amsterdam, was a son of Meijer Paur and Simcha Cohen Rodrigues. Joshua was a perfume manufacturer, forwarder and declarant by profession. His mother, himself and his brother Abraham were granted permission to reside in Belgium in 1928 and they then lived at Turnhoutsebaan 167 in Borgerhout.
Jozua married Anna Hillesum, a daughter of Hartog Hillesum and Marianne van Collem, on 12 August 1931 in Deurne, Belgium. They had a daughter, Simonne, on 2 November 1932, who was born in Deurne (B).
In September 1939 the family came to Amsterdam, where they found living space in the Sarphatistraat 101 upper house, but a month later they moved to Gedempte Oudegracht 127 rood in Haarlem. In 1941 they moved to Raaks 11 red and Colensostraat 5 black, where they stayed until early 1943.
The family then decided to go into hiding, which is why the daughter survived the Holocaust. After the war, her registration card from the Jewish Council showed that her hiding address was Kapelseweg 108 in Amersfoort.
Joshua and Anna, however, made attempts to go into hiding in Amsterdam, including in the Jan van Galenstraat and in the 3e Oosterparkstraat where Joshua's brother Abraham Paur then lived, but at some point afterwards, they were arrested and deported from Westerbork to Sobibor on 25 May 1943. The transport contained more than 2860 victims. Upon arrival there on 28 May 1943, Jozus Paur, his wife Anna Paur-Hillesum and all other victims were immediately murdered in the gas chambers. There were no survivors.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration cards of Meijer Paur, and of Simcha Paur Cohen-Rodrigues; archive cards of Jozua Paur and Anna Hillesum; the Dossier of Foreigners of the Municipality of Borgerhout (Antwerp)no. 994#3373, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Jozua Paur, Anna Paur-Hillesum and Simonne Paur and the Wikipedia website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl.