Paul Hijmans was the eldest of the two children of Maurits Hijmans and Kitty Lemans. He was born on 4 January 1924, when his parents after their wedding, lived at Graaf Florisstraat 11b in Rotterdam. In March 1927 the family moved to Persijnstraat 9a, where Paul’s sister Mieke was born in 1930.
Paul’s parents, he himself ans his sister Mieke were registered on 1 February 1943 at the Amsterdam address Pretoriusstraat 1 1st floor. It was a compulsory removal from Rotterdam to Amsterdam, ordered by the Germans, who concentrated the Jews by that in three districts in the city: around the Waterlooplein, the Transvaal district of Amsterdam-East and the River district at Amsterdam-South. Moreover, on 29 April 1942 wearing the the yellow Jew-star was already made mandatory too.
At the time of the compulsory registration of Jews in the Netherlands, which took place from 10 January 1941, Paul was in the 5th school-class of the HBS in Rotterdam. He was 17 years old at the time. Otherwise, from 1 September 1941, Jewish children were prohibited from receiving education at non-Jewish schools, but Paul Hijmans could probably have taken his final exams in the summer of 1941. Even then he was already familiar with shorthand and typing.
On 26 July 1942, Paul Hijmans became "Chief of Expedition and Courier" at the Jewish Council of Rotterdam. He was also employed at the Nursing Service Department and the Night Watch Service. The Council provided him with identification number B-1239, but no Sperre – no postponement of deportation.
Documents that mention his arrest by the Municipal Police in Rotterdam on 19 May 1943, show that he was a student in Delft at the time and lived at Spoorsingel 38. It is not known exactly when he started his studentship and what his field of study was.
However known is, that Paul, as a Delft student, apparently became involved in illegal activities. That proved fatal for him on 19 May 1943: he was arrested in Rotterdam for forging food vouchers/ration coupons and imprisoned in the House of Detention at Noordsingel in Rotterdam. There he was kept available for the German Security Police (Sicherheitspolizei - Sipo).
On 1 July 1943, he was transferred from Rotterdam to Westerbork, where he ended up in barrack 97, which then served as a school. Not long afterwards, on 6 July, Paul Hijmans was deported to Sobibor in a transport of 2417 victims - of which 93 deportees were known as "Häflinge" (prisoners), including 19-year-old Paul Hijmans. After arriving at destination on 9 July 1943, all were immediately murdered in the gas chambers of Sobibor. There were no survivors.
Sources include the City Archive of Rotterdam, family registrationcard of Maurits Hijmans; the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Maurits Hijmans and Paul Hijmans; Residence card Pretoriusstraat 1 Amsterdam; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Paul Hijmans; Rotterdam arrest cards of Paul Hijmans dated 19 May 1943; Transport listing of 6 July 1943 from the book Extermination Camp Sobibor, among them 93 Häflinge (prisoners) by Jules Schelvis and the website Jodentransporten vanuit Nederland.nl/6 July 1943 - 2417 persons.