Esther Polak, born 1 Januar 1880 in Rotterdam as the youngest of the six children of Jacobus Polak and Vroukje de Jong, married there at the age of 32 – on 23 October 1912 – the 25 year old Jonas Frank, born 27 March 1887 in Groningen as son of Alexander Frank and Vogelina Drukker.
Jonas Frank was a wallpaperer by trade. He stayed in Utrecht till April/May 1906 and then moved to Amsterdam. There he lived in at Nieuwe Prinsengracht 52 till June 1908; then he left for Rotterdam, where he found a room at the address Lange Warande 68 and 48a and later at Hofdijk 51.
When Jonas Frank was wed to Esther Polak in 1912, they went living at the address Strooveer 17 and later on 14b, which was located near the Agniese district and the Heer Bokelweg in Rotterdam. The couple had two children, namely Alexander Jacobus on 8 October 1913 and Jacobus on 14 July 1916, Both the children have survived the war.
The registration cards from the cartstore of the Jewish Council show, that Esther and Jonas had reported already in Westerbork on 28 August 1942, although they had no call for the so-called “Arbeitseinsatz”. (provision for additional work in Germany). But they went, “ohne Aufruf” and were put on transport to Auschwitz on 31 August 1942. On arrival there on 3 September 1942, Esther Frank-Polak and her husband Jonas Frank, considering their age, were not selected for “work” anymore but immediately killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Sources include the City Archive of Rotterdam, registration card Peoples Registry for Jonas Frank and family registration card of Jonas Frank; website Alle Groningers, birth certificate for Jonas Frank; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Jonas Frank and Esther Frank-Polak.