Betje Polak was a daughter of Hartog Polak and Eva Rosa Wijler. She was born 23 February 1918 in Schoonoord (municipality of Sleen in Drenthe) and was unmarried.
Since 13 February 1939 she was employed as a certified nurse at “Het Apeldoornse Bos” (Central Israëlitic Psychiatric Hospital) and she was “exempted from deportation” because of her function there. Betje Polak was in possession of her State diploma for nursing the suffering from nerves and the mental ill.
In the night of 21 to 22 January 1943 the Apeldoornse Bos was ’emptied‘. With Aus der Fünten in charge, the Apeldoornse Bos was searched, and helpless patients were beaten and abused and loaded first into trucks and then transferred to cattle cars. The train with patients and nurses headed straight through to Auschwitz, where almost everybody was killed immediately upon arrival.
However, Betje Polak did not belong to those, who were immediately deported to Auschwitz; she was transferred to Westerbork on 22 January 1943 and 24 January she got a place in barrack 72. Presumably because of her profession as a certified nurse, she stayed in Westerbork till 14 September 1943. On that date, she was put on transport to Auschwitz, with another 1004 deportees and arrived there 16 of 17 September 1943.
It never has become clear where exact and when Betje Polak lost her life; from her certificate of death nr. 695, made out by the officials of the municipality of Apeldoorn on 9 September 1950 is only stated that she “at some point between 13 September 1943 and the capitulation of the German Armies in May 1945, has died in or around Auschwitz.
Sources: Peoples Registry of Apeldoorn, re. Betje Polak; Archive Apeldoorn, certificate of death for Betje Polak, nr. 695 dated 9 September 1950, made out by the Municpality of Apeldoorn; wikipedialist of Jewtransports from the Netherlands and the file cabinet of the Jewish Council registration card of Betje Polak.