Jacob van Os was born on 22 February 1876 in Amsterdam. He was born to hat-maker Meijer van Os and Sipora Content, whom themselves were both born and raised in Amsterdam.
Jacob was the second oldest child, born three years after his parents 1873 marriage. His older brother Levie was born in July 1874. Jacob’s sister Caroline was born almost a year-to-the day after him in 1877.
The family at the time was living at Sint Antoniesbreestraat, and then Waterlooplein 74.
Soon, baby Jerris followed, in August 1880, and Jacob gained yet another brother, Abraham, in Nov 1882. Finally, a sister, Frederika, was born in Aug 1889.
Jacob was drafted into the military on 18 December 1895 at the age of 19. His intake form lists him as being 1642 mm tall (or about a bit under 5’4 for Americans). He’s listed as having brown eyes and brown hair.
Jacob's engagement to Esther Cann was announced in the local Jewish newspapers in October 1904. Esther, the daughter of a salesman, was born in 1874 and was also a native of Amsterdam.
Jacob was the first of his siblings to marry, at age 30, on 14 March 1906 (17 Adar in the Hebrew calendar) in Amsterdam.
Their marriage banns appeared in the newspaper for several weeks, also serving as a marriage announcement.
By now, Jacob’s father, Meijer is listed as a “diamantklover” — a diamond cleaver. Jacob’s profession is the same. The Diamond industry in Amsterdam was one where Jews were permitted to work, and thus, one of the few industries where Jews thrived.
Due to the nature of the diamond trade, Jews who worked in the industry traveled frequently between Amsterdam and Antwerp, Belgium. Documents show Jacob crossing the border between the two countries as early as 1898 (and several dozen times thereafter). In the 1920’s, Esther begins to show up on documents with him, accompanying him in his travels. The two appear to never have had children, or at least not have had any children who made it into adulthood.
Esther passed away on 30 August 1939, in Antwerp. Her official death certificate was listed in Antwerp and notices were published by Jacob in Amsterdam papers. 30 August 1939 was two days prior to the invasion of Poland, which most consider the event that officially started the Second World War. Esther and Jacob’s lives were already hell by this point due to Nazi policies in neighboring Germany, no doubt, but she was spared the brunt of the troubles that were to come.
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A trap was set at the Antwerp rationing services center on 22 September 1942. Jews, as well as non-Jewish citizens, were required to arrive in person to obtain their rations. To obtain rations, you had to show your identity papers. The SS checked papers that day at the rationing center, not the usual city employees, and pulled aside everyone who carried papers marking them as Jewish. This flushed out Jews in hiding, as many still showed up for rations; to be in "hiding" was often just staying at an address other than what was listed on your papers. We can presume that Jacob was in line that day and arrested, his crime was being Jewish and collecting his meager bread ration.
Jacob was deported from Belgium on September 26th, 1942 on what is known as Mechelen Transport XI. 26 September was, tragically, the first day of Sukkot that year, one of the most important Jewish holidays.
Per Yad Vashem's findings, the trains were packed with 1,742 deportees — the largest transport that ever left Mechelen — 793 men/boys and 949 women/girls, 467 of them under the age of 15. The ages of those on-board ranged from 9 months to 86.
891 women were gassed upon arrival at Auschwitz on 28 September, and 507 men met the same fate — presumably, Jacob was among them. It was the deadliest of all the Mechelen transports that departed Belgium during the war.
It is very likely due to Jacob’s age he was gassed at arrival.
Belgium issued him a death certificate in 1958, some 16 years after he perished. A tragic end to a man who had mostly a happy life, filled with siblings, parents, and a loving wife.