Jakob Blumenthal, born 6 June 1878 in Kirchbracht in Germany, was a so of Markus Blumenthal and Hannchen Goldschmitdt. On 11 May 1906 he married in Fulda (D) the daughter of Leopold Hecht and Babette Hess, Klara Karolina Hecht, who was born 25 June 1882 in Bonnland in Bavaria (D). The family lived in Fulda but due to the circumstances in Germany, they arrived 10 March 1939 in Amsterdam, where they came living at Raphaelplein 36 parterre.
As far as known, the Blumenthal couple had three sons, namely Leon, born 1907 in Fulda (D)m Markus, born in 1908 and Lothar, born in 1920 in Fulda too. Leo was married and arrived with his family in October 1934 from Frankfurt am Main to Amsterdam. His brother Lothar arrived from the city of Telsai in Lithuania in April 1937 in Enschede but up from 1940 he moved to Amsterdam too. Markus and his family survived the Shoah by going into hiding.
In the relatively short period thereafter, Jakob and Klara moved a number of times, such as in May 1939 to Aurgonautenstraat 5 1st stock, in June 1940 to Watteaustraat 19 parterre, in September 1940 again to Raphaelplein 36 parterre and in March 1943 to Pretoriusstraat 12 1st floor. On 1 December 1939 they were registered in the Civil Registry of Amsterdam but were not naturalized. They belonged to the group of so-called “stateless Jews”.
Jakob Blumenthal and his wife Klara Karolina Hecht were taken on 17 April 1943 to Westerbork and ended up in barrack 57, from where Klara later was transferred to the sick barrack 82.
Both were proposed for a so-called “Palestina Austausch” (Palestine exchange) and they have been put on transport from Westerbork to Bergen Belsen on 1 February 1944. There Jakob Blumenthal lost his life a few weeks after his arrival: he died there on 26 February 1944. According to the registration card of the Jewish Council, Jakob’s wife Klara Karolina Hecht was indeed “exchanged” from Bergen Belsen to Palestine on 10 July 1944 and as a result she survived the Holocaust.
Sources among others: City Archive of Amsterdam, archive cards of Jakob Blumenthal, Klara Karolina Hecht, Leo Blumenthal and Lothar Blumenthal; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Jakob Blumenthal and Klara Blumenthal-Hecht.