Jacques Hakkert was a merchant from Rotterdam, he specialized as a violin maker and had his own store in the city center since 1914.
During the Second World War he had to report to Kazerne Dossin, a Jewish registration centre. He would go on to die at concentration camp Auschwitz at the age of 52.
Jacques Wolfgang Hakkert was born on 29 August 1891 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. His parents were Philip Hakkert Jr. and Elisabeth Knap, who had founded an important music store in Rotterdam in 1880, called ‘Muziek Hakkert.’
From a young age, Jacques Hakkert wanted to work in a music store, just like his parents. For his training to become a violin maker, he had been to Germany, France and the United Kingdom and had learned the craft from other violin makers. In 1914, Jacques Hakkert succeeded in opening his own store in the center of Rotterdam. In this shop he sold his homemade violins, which were of exceptionally good quality.
On 14 March 1940, Jacques Hakkert left Rotterdam and moved to Mechelen, Belgium. However, less than two months later on 10 May 1940, Belgium was occupied by Nazi Germany. Since he was Jewish, he had to report to Kazerne Dossin, which the German occupiers used as a registration and transit camp for Jews, Roma and Sinti in Belgium during the war.
On 13 April 1944, Jacques Hakkert was registered under number 73 on the transport list of the 25th transport from Kazerne Dossin (transport XXV). This train left for Auschwitz-Birkenau more than a month later, on 19 May 1944. Transport XXV was one of the last transports to leave Mechelen for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Upon departure there were 508 people onboard this train. Only three days after arriving in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 22 May 1944, Jacques Hakkert died in this concentration camp at the age of 52.
