Ans Polak
1928 Summer Olympic gold medal gymnastic team. Ans Polak is second from the left.
Personal information
Country represented Netherlands
Born(1906-11-24)24 November 1906
Amsterdam
Died23 July 1943(1943-07-23) (aged 36)
Sobibor extermination camp
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
Medal record
Women's gymnastics
Representing the  Netherlands
Summer Olympics
Gold medal – first place 1928 Amsterdam Team

Anna "Ans" Dresden-Polak (née Anna Polak) (24 November 1906 – 23 July 1943) was a Jewish Dutch gymnast.[1][2][3]

She won the gold medal as a member of the Dutch gymnastics team at the 1928 Summer Olympics, in her native Amsterdam.[4][5][6] She was one of five Jewish members of the team, which included Stella Blits-Agsteribbe (who was murdered in Auschwitz), Lea Kloot-Nordheim (who was murdered in Sobibor), and Judikje Themans-Simons (who was murdered in Sobibor).[3][5] Their coach, Gerrit Kleerekoper, was murdered in Sobibor as well.[5][7]

She was born in Amsterdam, and was murdered in Sobibor extermination camp. From Westerbork concentration camp, she had been deported to Sobibór, where she was murdered on 23 July 1943,[8] together with her six-year-old daughter Eva.[9][10] Her husband, Barend Dresden was murdered a few months later in 1944 in Auschwitz concentration camp.[10][11][12]

She was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.[4][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Paul Taylor (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics - With a Complete Review of Jewish Olympic Medalists. Eastbourne, UK: Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 9781903900888. Retrieved 27 January 2013 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Wechsler, Bob (2008). Day by Day in Jewish Sports History. Jersey City, N.J.: KTAV Publishing House. p. 329. ISBN 9781602800137. Retrieved 27 January 2013 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b Paauw, Ruud (Winter 1994). "After the Glory" (PDF). Citius, Altius, Fortius. Durham, N.C.: International Society of Olympic Historians. 2 (1): 30. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Dresden-Polak, Anna". Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  5. ^ a b c Lipman, Steve. "Connecting the World to Jewish News, Culture, and Opinion". The Jewish Week. Archived from the original on 3 April 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  6. ^ IX Olympic Games - Official Report (PDF). Amsterdam: Nederlands Olympisch Comité*Nederlandse Sport Federatie. 1928. p. 694 – via LA 84 Foundation.
  7. ^ "NETHERLANDS 1928 OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS". Jewishsports.net. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  8. ^ Schaffer, Kay; Smith, Sidonie (2000). The Olympics at the Millennium: Power, Politics, and the Games. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. pp. 60–62. ISBN 978-0-8135-2820-5 – via Google Books.
  9. ^ Taylor, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games. Eastbourne, UK: Sussex Academic Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-1-903900-87-1 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ a b Winston-Macauley, Marnie (2009). Yiddishe Mamas: The Truth About the Jewish Mother. Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 331. ISBN 9780740788895. Retrieved 27 January 2013 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Yogi Mayer, Paul (2004). Jews and the Olympic Games. Elstree, UK: Vallentine Mitchell. p. 238. ISBN 978-0-85303-451-3 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Olympians Who Were Killed or Missing in Action or Died as a Result of War". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  13. ^ "International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame: Netherlands 1928 Olympic Champions".

Further reading

External links

Sobibor extermination camp
Olympic Champions in Artistic Gymnastics – Women's Team All-Around
Categories