Senator Johann Polach was born 16.5.1871

Johann was the eldest of six children, four boys and two
girls. His father was a poor workman from a small village in Moravia. Since
Johann was a talented student , he was sent to Vienna to attend the
Schottenring gymnasium.

During his years at the university, he supported himself by
giving private lessons. He became also very active in the rising
Social-democratic party, both in Vienna and in Bruenn. With his new bride,
Katharina Waller, he moved to Bruenn where he started teaching Latin and Greek
at a high school. Three sons were born to them, Hans, Friedrich and
Ernst-Benjamin. Friedrich died young, aged twenty.

Johann rose in the ranks of the Party and eventually was
appointed Senator at the Czechoslovak Pariament. For several years Johann was
actively involved in the political life, mainly in the field of education. He
retired due to illness, in the mid-thirties.

When Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia, Johann and his family
were persecuted for their Jewish origin and in 1942 deported to Ghetto
Theresienstadt. In the terrible conditions he lived for just a few weeks, and
died miserably in October 1942.