Date of birth:

May 19th, 1910 (Hoogezand, the Netherlands)

Date of death:

May 14th, 1945 (KZ Neuengamme, Germany)

Buried on:

Dutch War Cemetery Lübeck
Plot: 37. 

Nationality:

Dutch

At the beginning of the war, Jacob van Biessum was the garage owner of Garage Groningen, located at Oosterhamrikkade 42 in Groningen. In addition to sales and repairs, there was ample opportunity to store cars. A taxi company was also operated there.
During the war, the company was requisitioned by the Germans. The Germans mainly used the garage for storage.
Jacob became involved in resistance work. He belonged to Roelof Heidema's group. This was a resistance group that mainly collected and passed on intelligence. He was able to gratefully make use of the conversations that "good" Germans exchanged with each other in the garage, because the office of the taxi company was located in the storage area. And the fact that the company's taxi could go more or less anywhere in the province gave freedom of movement and the possibility of communicating with others. The liberation of Bob Houwen and his cellmate from the House of Detention on 9 October 1944 proved fatal for him, because the number of the car involved in the action was remembered and passed on almost immediately to the Sicherheitsdienst. The trail led to the Groningen garage, with the result that Jacob was immediately arrested and imprisoned in the Scholtenhuis. He was there from 9 October 1944 until at least 27 October 1944. A house search fortunately yielded nothing, although there were weapons in the house.
He was released on the recommendation of his brother-in-law, a high-ranking official at the NSB. Now going into hiding was the best option, but he did not want that because the Imex garage of his brothers Jan and Roelf had been threatened with confiscation.
He was arrested again by the SD on 12 November 1944.
On 16 January 1945 he was transported to the Neuengamme concentration camp and later transferred to the Sandbostel concentration camp. He lived to see the liberation of the concentration camp by British troops on 29 April 1945, but the Red Cross retrieval operation failed because the relevant documents had been lost en route and they therefore had to return empty-handed. Two Canadian officers, who had meanwhile made use of the garage and heard about the failed retrieval operation, decided to go and get Jacob themselves. When they arrived in Rotenburg he had unfortunately died of exhaustion and typhus. The welcome flowers on the Oosterhamrikkade were there in vain.

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• Photo 1: J.Niemeijer :Hoe Groningen streed".
• - HEUVEL, C.C. VAN DEN e.a., Verzetsherdenkingskruis, Samsom Uitgeverij, 1985.
  - Jacob van Biessum | Oorlogsgravenstichting
  - Jacob van Biessum | Digitaal Monument Neuengamme
  - Jacob van Biessum | Erelijst van Gevallenen 1940-1945
  - Bronnen over 'Biessum' - Netwerk Oorlogsbronnen
  - https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/bronnen?term=strafgevangenis groningen
  

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