Marianne Barend, usually called Marie, was the tenth of the twelve children of Gerrit Polak and Heintje Visser. She was born on 6 January 1911 in Amsterdam and before she was married, she worked as a packer in cigar factory. On 10 February 1936 she married in Amsterdam the merchant Marcus van Spier, who was usually known as Max and who was born in Culemborg on 6 May 1910 as a son of Jacob van Spi…