Biography

About Jacques Vos and his spouse Greta Polak.

Jacques Vos, one of the thirteen children of Mozes Vos and Maria Polak, was born as the-one-after-the-youngest on 12 January 1906 in Amsterdam. He was a dealer in irregular goods, worked also as a diamond worker and was also a musician/ violonist. He married on 27 July 1932 in Amsterdam the 18-year old Greta Polak, born on 4 January 1914 in Amsterdam as a daughter of Levie Polak and Wilhelmina Kalf. As far as could researched, Jacques Vos and Greta Polak had no children.

Jacques Vos was not only a dealer in irregular goods, he also moved several times with his wife Greta; from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, to Den Haag and again to Amsterdam. After the wedding in 1932 they both moved to Rotterdam where they lived in at the address Delftschestraat 31a. Then they moved every few months in Rotterdam itself, from Rotterdam to Den Haag, in Den Haag itself to other addresses and as far as could be reconstructed, Jacques and Greta moved into a house at the Sint Willibrordusstaat 18 2nd floor in Amsterdam on 17 February 1936, when the moved there from Amstelkade 14 3rd floor.

When in 1941 the mandatory registration of all Jews in the Netherlands followed, and several anti-Jewish measures came into effect, there was no chance anymore for Jacques Vos to earn a living as a diamond worker and as a musician. He became a cleaner and had a “Sperre” from the Jewish Council, so he could work up from 1 September 1942 with “Sluyter Schoonmaakdienst” (Sluyter Cleaning Service) at Laings Nekstraat 55. Up from that moment, Jacques Vos as well his wife Greta Polak were exempted from deportation for the time being.

But in the night of 1 to 2 April 1943, both were arrested and from Amsterdam carried off to concentration camp Vught, from where they had been transferred to Westerbork on 3 Jul 1943, where they ended up in barrack 93. Already on 6 July Jacques and Greta were put on transport to Sobibor and upon arrival on 9 July 1943 immediately murdered in the gas chambers there.

Sources include the City Archive of Amsterdam, archive card of Jacques Vos and of Greta Polak; the City Archive of Rotterdam/family registration cards of Jacques Vos; the Municipal Archive of Den Haag/family registration cards of Jacques Vos; the Amsterdam residence card of the Sint Willibrordusstraat 18/Jacques Vos and Greta Polak; the file cabinet of the Jewish Council registration card of Jacques Vos and the website ITS Arolson, camp cards Vught for Jacques Vos and Greta Vos-Polak.

 

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