Jacob Glasbeek (also called Jaap) was a son of Hartog Glasbeek (1839-1921) and Gezina Bonnettemaker (1842-1910). Jacob was married to Klara van Praag. From this marriage three children were born: Hartog, Jochem and a child that has survived the war.
Jacob had only been to a primary school, but he was very well-read and had broad interests. He was particularly interested in history. Besides working as a cigar maker, he was active as director-general of the Dutch Cigar Makers and Tobacconist’s Trade Union. His nickname "the lawyer" had to do with the fact that he often took up for his colleagues. When there were differences of opinion Jacob often knew how to handle this.
Jacob knew much about his ancestors. He knew that his grandfather Zadok Glasbeek had seen the entry of Napoleon in Amsterdam as a small boy on the shoulders of his father Mozes Levie Glasbeek. The story he told was that when Napoleon saw so many strong Jewish men standing along the road, he also wanted to recruit them as soldiers. According to this, Jews got their full civil rights with the arrival of the French.
Jacob Glasbeek was, as many Jewish labourers, a member of the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDAP). For Jacob the war was lost when the president of a section of the Institute of Labourers Development in Amsterdam North said to him that it was good that the Jews lost their important positions. When it became necessary during the war, it could not be managed to find hiding places for the Glasbeek family. From the family with three children, only one of the children survived the war.
Jacob Glasbeek lived separated from his family in 1941.
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