Background
Alfred van der Poorten was born on May 16, 1942, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, into a Jewish family after the German occupation had begun. His parents, David and Marianne van der Poorten, gave him into foster care with the Teerink family in Amersfoort, under the name "Fritsje"; they were later caught and sent to a concentration camp. However, his parents were among the few who came back from the concentration camps and the family was reunited in 1945, and then migrated to Sydney in 1951.