Israël van Polen was a son of Isak van Polen and sara Wijsenbek. He married 16 August 1906 in Amsterdam Esther Mulder, who was born in 1867 as a daughter of Moses Salomon Mulder and Hendrika Gendering. (her sister Mirjam Mulder married later Emanuel Mossel) The Van Polen couple had two daughters, namely Sara Hendrika (Suze) in 1909 and Hendrika in 1911. Sara Hendrika (Suze) was killed in the Shoah. Her sister Hendrika surived the Holocaust.
The Van Polen family lived at Oudeschans 7 in Amsterdam. There Israëls wife Esther Mulder passed away on 16 November 1936; she was interred in the Jewish Cemetery at Muiderberg.
After the passing of his wife, Israël van Polen and his daughter Hendrika moved 21 January 1937 to Nieuwe Achtergracht 190 1st floor. Hendrika left the house of her father on 8 May 1940, when she got married to Joseph Prins. Together they moved to Plantage Parklaan 9B 1st floor and later to Sarphatistraat 2011 1st floor (named Muiderschans during the war).
Israël van Polen’s daughter Sara Hendrika (Suze), had left already Oudeschans 7 on 9 February 1935 for Nieuwe Achtergracht 98. She then was working as probationer at the Joodse Invalide. After being moved another five times, she arrived at Nieuwe Achtergracht 107 ground floor. Since October 1941 she was 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.
Israel van Polen moved again 30 April 1940 to Nieuwe Heerengracht 67 1st floor, where he lived as lodger in Pension (guest house) Frankenhuis-de Liever. From this last address he was deported to Westerbork in the week of 18-24 April 1943. There he had to stay in barrack 83 till Tuesday 27 April, when he was put on transport to Sobibor. On arrival he has been killed immediately there on 30 April 1943.
City archive of Amsterdam, family registration card and archive card of Israël van Polen; archive cards of Hendrika and Sara Hendrika van Polen; residence card of Nieuwe Heerengracht 67 1st floor/Frankenhuis-Van Polen; website het Stenen Archief/grave Esther Mulder and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council, registration card of Israël van Polen.