Benjamin Israël van Polen

Benjamin Israël van Polen, the younger of the two sons of Izak van Polen and Eva van Berg, was born on 31 May 1913 in Amsterdam.  Benjamin worked in the company of his brother Isak Elkan van Polen as a paper products representative, and even lived with Isak and his wife Roza Polak between April 1923 and March 1938. During those years, Benjamin Israël van Polen was still unmarried

After he left his…

The so-called Sterbebücher of Auschwitz includes nearly 69.000 official certificates of death, made out in the camp between July 1941 and December 1943.

Schutzhaft (preventive detention) was the term in the Third Reich for the arrest, without a court decision, and the detention in concentration camps of persons who were unwelcome to the National Socialist regime because of their (left-wing) political conviction, religion, orientation or origin, such as Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Sinti and Roma, antisocials and homosexuals. The Schutzhäftlinge were…

According to the Death Index (Sterbebücher) of Auschwitz, Benjamin Israël van Polen died there on 7 October 1942. This date appeared to be even later than the official date of death of 30 September 1942 as established after the war by the Dutch Ministery of Justice.  For the time being, the website joodsmonument.nl only lists the dates of death, as published at the time in the Dutch State Gazette …