Grietje Asscher and Frederik Polak were very closely involved in the society around them. Grietje worked as a teacher, something that raised a lot of eyebrows in this period.
During the occupation, one of their children managed to arrange a hiding-place for them. But Frederik Polak and Grietje Asscher decided that they could not abandon their community. In 1943 they were deported from Westerbork transit camp to Sobibor. Three of their children survived the war. Their daughter Julia was died a few days after the war had ended.
Addition of a visitor of the website
For additional information, see:
N. van der Zee, L. Auerbach-Polak en B. Bausch-Polak, Bewogen stilte. Oorlogsherinneringen van twee zussen (Kampen 2005)
Ina Soep and Jacob Polak, Steal a pencil for me. Love letters from camp Bergen-Belsen and Westerbork (2000)