Jacob Heijmans, born on 3 March 1903 in Alphen aan den Rijn, was a son of Joseph Heijmans and Susanna Gersons. He had two brothers, Nathan and Abraham Barend and two sisters, Elizabeth and Henriette. There has been a little brother Benjamin too, who died three months after his birth in 1895.
After Jacob’s parents, together with his sisters Elizabeth and Henriette moved from Alphen aan den Rijn to Het Gooi and ended up in the Van Lijndenlaan 25 in Naarden after 1921, also Jacob self moved that time to Naarden, where he has lived in the Pater Wijnterlaan 33. His brother Abraham Barend lived in Bussum, already from 1921, where he runned his dental practice in his own home. His brother Nathan left Alphen aan den Rijn for Amsterdam already in 1917 but went to Bussum too, where he lived till 1933 with his brother Abraham Barend.
On 28 April 1937 the still unmarried Jacob Heijmans moved from Naarden to Den Haag where he found living space in the Parkstraat 87. After six month he moved to Bleijenberg 33 where he lived one-and-a-half year. On 20 March 1939 his address became Batjanstraat 20, which was located in the Archipel district of Den Haag. At the time of the mandarory registration of the Jews in the Netherlands, his address was De Ruijterstraat 55 in Den Haag. Jacob was an office clerk by profession.
It appeared on Jacob’s registration card from the Jewish Council and from the Red Cross archive that Jacob was taken to Westerbork on 11 December 1942. According to listings, drawed up in Westerbork, he was a so-called “Penal case” but is completely unclear what “offense” he would have committed. It is also striking that from 27 October 1943 till 25 November 1943, Jacob Heijmans was registered as a “Penal case” for more than a month in barrack 81, the camp hospital of Westerbork. But it is also noted on his registration card from the Jewish Council, that he had already been in the hospital in Den Haag for one day, on 27 January 1943, i.e. six weeks after he was brought into Westerbork. It is not known whether there was abuse at arrest or he was already carrying one or more diseases with him.
Anyway, on or after 25 November 1943 Jacob was dismissed from the camp hospital but still considered as a “Penal Case”. On 25 January 1944, he was deported from Westerbork to Auschwitz with a so-called “Penal Transport”, in total with 948 deportees and arrived at destination on 28 January 1944. Jacob Heijmans then was immediately killed there in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Sources include the Municipal Archive of Den Haag, family registration card of Jacob Heijmans, the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Jacob Heijmans; the archive of the Red Cross, listings of “penal cases” in camp hospital; website Wikipedia, jodentransporten van uit nedderland.nl and the certificate of death for Jacob Heijmans, nr. A2550 dated 23 December 1947, made out by the Municipality of Den Haag on order of the District Court of Den Haag of 29 October 1947.