Sara Hendrika van Polen (usually named Suze), a daughter of Israël van Polen and Esther Mulder, was a schoolteacher and since October 1941 attached to the Jewish School for Special Primary Education (B.L.O.) at Plantage Muidergracht 26-28, which had been designated by the German occupiers. She had her certificates for Basis Education J and K and she was unmarried. According a note on her registration card of at the Jewish Council, she was a religious woman.
Sara Hendrika lived at Nieuwe Achtergracht 107 ground floor but moved 5 August 1942 to Sarpathistraat 211 1st floor, where her sister Hendrika lived with her husband Joseph Prins since 8 May 1940. On 25 May 1943 they had been forced to move again to Tugelaweg 20 1st floor in Amsterdam-East.
On 26 May 1943 there had been a big raid on Jews in the city centre of Amsterdam an in East Amsterdam. The night of 25 May, only 500 Jews reported voluntary after a call. The next day 3000 people are away by the Amsterdam police. They were all deported to transit camp Westerbork and from there most of them were sent to extermination camp Sobibor.
This was also the fate of Sara Hendrika van Polen. Because of her profession as schoolteacher, the was provisionally exempted from deportation (“gesperrt bis auf weiteres”), but she too was taken in the razzia of 26 May 1943 and deported to Westerbork, were she had to stay in barrack 63. She has made attempts to be transferred to Vught because of her function as school teacher, but they all proved to be ineffective. On 1 June she was put on transport to Sobibor and on arrival there on 4 June 1943, she has been immediately killed.
City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Sara Hendrika van Polen, residence card of Sarphatistraat 211 1st floor; time line WWII/raid 26 May 1943 and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Sara Hendrika van Polen.