Jacob Roos was a son of Levie Roos and Sara Binger. He was born in Rotterdam on 11 December 1884, had already three siblings: Roosje born in 1880, who has been killed in Auschwitz on 6 September 1944; Heiman born in 1881 but who died already on 4 February 1882, just four months old and Maria born in 1882, of whom place and date of death is (still) unknown. After the birth of Jacob in 1884 another three children followed: Heijman born in 1886, of whom is further nothing known; Alida born in 1890 passed away in 1931 and Salomon who was born in 1893, was killed in Auschwitz on 15 January 1943.
Jacob Roos was publicity agent for the “Dutch Weekly in Belgium”. However, before that he was a violinist and as such he married 26 March 1908 in Amsterdam the violinist Eugenie Josephine Blanc who was born on 14 March 1887 in Cuttura in the arrondissement of Saint Claude of the French Jura. On 31 August 1909 their son René was born in Cologne. The marriage however did not last and ended in Amsterdam on 5 January 1917 by divorce.
On 18 September 1919 Jacob Roos married again in Amsterdam Bloeme Dikker, a daughter of Louis Dikker and Sara Bril. Bloeme was born there on 27 September 1895. Jacob has lived in many places in Belgium since 1919: he lived with his wife Bloeme at various addresses in Antwerp, Schaerbeek and Brussels. Since 1937 they resided in Antwerp again at the address Vliegenstraat 39. As far as could be ascertained, Jacob and Bloeme had no children.
From 10 May 1940m Jacob Roos had become unemployed and received 100 francs a week in aid. He was registered in the “Belgian Register of Jews” under no. 8010 and was deported with the 8th Convoy from Mechelen to Auschwitz on 8 Sepember 1942. On arrival there on 11 September 1942 Jacob Roos was immediately gassed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Most likely his wife Bloeme Dikker has survived the Holocaust; she moved in 1945 from Antwerp to Elsene (B).
Sources include the City Archive of Rotterdam, family registration cards of Levie Roos; the Dossiers of Foreigners of the City of Antwerp 108973 for Levie Roos and 148094 for Jacob Roos; certificate of death for Jacob Roos B-199 from 1952, by verdict of the Districe Court of Antwerp dated 27 December 1951 and the Memorial of the Deportation of the Belgian Jews, page 24.