Lena Barend was a daughter of Gerrit Barend and Heintje Visser. She was born on 13 April 1909 in Amsterdam and married there Joseph Polak on 20 November 1940, a son of Aron Polak and Rosette van Straten and who was born in Amsterdam on 13 September 1915. Lena and Joseph had a son on 8 September 1941, named Aron.
At their weddingday in November 1940, bride and groom were flanked by two bridesmaids: the 12-year old Jettie Barend, a daughter of Lena’s eldest brother Barend who was married to Sara Premselaar, and by Trijntje Polak-Cohen (Hetty), the then still fiancée of Joseph’s brother Benjamin Aron Polak, who was to be married to Hetty in June 1941.
Joseph Polak started as an office clerk, was commercial traveller and later active in purchase and sale of gold and silver, just like his brother. Till his marriage, he lived at home with his parents at Swammerdamstraat 16 2nd floor.
Lena, who worked before her marriage as a factory worker, was very close with her younger sister Marianne, who married 10 February 1936 Marcus van Spier. After their wedding they moved into a house at Kamerlingh Onnesweg 64 in Hilversum, als six months later, on 14 October 1936 Lena moved in with them. She stayed in Hilversum till 7 July 1938 and returned then to her parental home at President Brandstraat 11 2nd floor in Amsterdam.
After Lena and Joseph were married in November 1940 they went for Hilversum again but returned already on 14 January 1941 to President Brandstraat 11 2nd floor, where Lena’s father Gerrit Barend still resided and also her unmarried brothter Bernard Barend.
But when Gerried moved on 30 August 1941 to his daughter Elisabeth Beesemer-Barend, who lived with her two children at President Brandstraat 56 2nd floor, Lena and her husband Joseph Polak moved in to an own home at Swammerdamstraat 7 2nd floor and the unmarried Bernard Barend then moved along with them. Later also Joseph’s parents Aron Polak and Rosette van Straten came living in there.
Documents from the file cabinet of the Jewish Council show, that Joseph Polak, his wife Lena Barend and their little son Aron had received a call on 21 July 1942 to report for the so-called “provision of additional work in Germany”, the “Arbeitseinsatz”. They would be deported with one of the next deportation transports to Auschwitz.
It is possible that due to the fact that Joseph Polak had knowledge about purchase and sale of gold and silver, the Polak family was “put back” (postponed/exempted) from deportation in July 1942. It is also possible that they had again an exemption till 14 November 1942, which was the date they had to be registered in Westerbork again. However, after Joseph Polak was arrested one night while he was asleep home in the Swammerdamstraat, (reasons unknown for us) and as a result of that has been carried off to Westerbork, Lena decided to go into hiding with her son Aron, who was just 1 year old.
They stayed at several addresses in town and because the baby kept crying and could not be stopped, it became also more and more unsafe and another addres followed. Eventually they moved in with their sister Mietje, who was mixed married to Adriaan (Arie) van der Meer.
However, the tension at home became bigger and bigger, actually too big. Fear and uncertainty made Mietje’s husband at some point saying: “we all are going to die”. This was for Lena the moment to report herself and her son Aron voluntarily in Westerbork, while she was thinking: “my husband has this job there, so it must be all right”. He had knowledge of gold and silver and had to sort confiscated jewelry there.
As far as could deducted from the registration cards of the Jewish Council file cabinet, Joseph Polak must have been already in Westerbork on 14 November 1942. From there he has written a postcard to his brother-in-law A. van der Meer, in which he wrote among others: “if you hear something from Lena, do write me immediately”.
Lena and her son Aron eventually reported themselves voluntarily in Westerbork on 27 February 1943. They stayed in barrack 72 and on 1 March, also Joseph was accommodated in that barrack. On 23 March, the Polak family was deported to Sobibor and on arrival there on 26 March 1943 immediately killed in the gas chambers.
Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, family registration card of Gerrit Barend and Aron Polak, archive cards of Joseph Polak and Lena Barend; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration cards of Joseph Polak, Lena Polak-Barend and Aron Polak (1941); Info from Raymund Schütz and from his publication “Vermoedelijk op transport” (probably deported) page 65; website Het geheugen van Oost/Geen afscheid (The memory of East/no goodbye) and memories of living descendants of the family.