Wim Polak

Willem "Wim" Polak (14 September 1924 – 1 October 1999) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and economist.^[1]

Wim Polak
Wim Polak in 1982
Member of the Council of State
In office 16 April 1984 – 1 October 1994
Vice President	Willem Scholten
Mayor of Amsterdam
In office 15 June 1977 – 1 June 1983
Preceded by	Louis Kuijpers (Ad interim)
Succeeded by	Enneüs Heerma (Ad interim)
State Secretary for the Interior
In office 11 May 1973 – 1 May 1977
Prime Minister	Joop den Uyl
Preceded by	Jan van Stuijvenberg
Succeeded by	Henk Koning
Personal details
Born	Willem Polak (1924-09-14)14 September 1924 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	1 October 1999(1999-10-01) (aged 75) Ilpendam, Netherlands
Cause of death	Cancer
Political party	Labour Party (from 1946)
Other political affiliations	Social Democratic Workers' Party (1945–1946)
Spouse	Johanna van 't Kruijs ​ ​ (m. 1947)​
Children	1 son and 1 daughter
Alma mater	University of Amsterdam (Bachelor of Economics)
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Economist · Journalist · Editor · Author · Corporate director · Nonprofit director

Biography

Polak was born to a Jewish merchant family in Amsterdam on 14 September 1924. His parents were murdered by the Nazis during the German Occupation of the Netherlands. After the Second World War, he worked as a journalist for Het Vrije Volk. Polak was appointed Secretary of State for local finances in Joop den Uyl's government. He worked towards improving the financial position of the larger Dutch cities. Subsequently, he became mayor of Amsterdam for a six-year period, where his challenges included numerous squatting cases as well as riots related to Queen Beatrix's coronation.

He died in 1999 at his home in Ilpendam.

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	11 April 1978
	Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	1 June 1983