Jacob was born into a
Jewish family in
Berlin, on 12 December 1898, the son of art salesman and silk manufacturer David Jacob. He served on the
Western Front in 1918 during the
First World War, which led him to become a pacifist. He became a journalist in 1920, He had known Wesemann for some time and had served as best man at Wesemann's wedding. Wesemann was later sentenced to three years in jail for the kidnapping. The case was investigated by Swiss police officer Anton Ganz, who went to London to interview such people as
Dora Fabian and
Karl Korsch. The subsequent death of Fabian alongside her friend
Mathilde Wurm led to concern that they had been murdered rather than committed suicide which was the verdict of the
coroner's court. This contributed to the climate of opinion which led to a successful campaign for Jacob's release from
Nazi Germany. This campaign was based on Swiss diplomatic pressure on the German government and German exile protests. However, he was once again kidnapped by the Gestapo in
Lisbon and held in the Gestapo prison at
Prinz-Albrecht-Straße, Berlin. Owing to the harsh treatment he endured, Jacob died in the Berlin Jewish Hospital on 26 February 1944. ==Works==