Page 17 - MIN ON 4 APRIL 2016

LOCAL A13
Monday 4 April 2016

Co-producer of ‘Rescue in The Philippines’ Visits Aruba

ORANJESTAD - Unless you bolizes the long-standing My daughter Ruth and her
have been living on anoth- friendship between these husband Stephen, who
er planet, you are familiar two democracies. was also at UTMB doing his
with the Schindler story and UFILCOA, the association pediatric residency, had
his bold and daring actions of the Philipino commu- become friends with Bar-
to save Jews from the Nazis.
“Rescue in the Philippines”
is a Schindler story in the
Philippines. According to
Yad Vashem - World Cen-
ter for Holocaust Research,
Documentation, Education
and Commemoration:

“Rescue in The Philippines Logo of the documentary ‘Rescue in the Philippines.’

is a one-hour documentary

of the story of how the five

Frieder brothers, Cincinnati nity in Aruba, honored me bara and have remained
as President of the Aruba friends to this date. At that
businessmen making two- Scholarship Foundation in time Barbara and Ruth
2007“For the wholeheart- were jogging companions
for-a-nickel cigars in pre- Philippine Ambassador to Israel, Honorable Neal Imperial; Pro- ed support and dedication and I ran with them at least
to the deserving Filipino one time.
WWII Manila, together with ducer of ‘Rescue in the Philippines’, Dr. Barbara Sasser; Execu- students in Aruba”. Since Nowadays Dr. Barbara
Manuel Quezon, the char- tive Director, Yad Vashem - Center for Holocaust and Humanity learning what the Philippi- Sasser is a nationally high
ismatic first president of the Education, Sarah Weiss. nos did in 1940, I have felt ranked 55PLUS tennis play-
even happier that I could er.
Philippines, Paul McNutt, 2011 to make “Rescue in estant – who happened to contribute to the educa- This is Barbara’s first visit to
US High Commissioner and the Philippines”. The docu- be in the Philippines at the tion of some of their mem- Aruba, but she assures me
former governor of Indiana mentary was released in same time. bers. it definitely won’t be her
(preparing for his own pres- 2013 in Manila and Mrs. But they all shared the I met Barbara around 1981 last. She has been very im-
idential campaign) and Sasser has since presented compassion for the per- when she was working on pressed with our island and
an ambitious Army Colo- it to many countries and secuted millions in Europe her Ph.D in Biochemistry at hopes to return in the near
nel named Dwight Eisen- the United Nations. and together planned and University of Texas Medi- futue.clydeharms@yahoo.
hower –helped 1,300 Jews Frieder Films, LLC was executed the rescue. cal Branch in Galveston. com
escape the Nazis and im- founded “to educate and Following the tragic story
migrate to the Philippines.” about the ship St. Louis car-

rying almost one thousand

fleeing Jews that was re-

fused entry in the United

States, Cuba and Cana-

da, their brave stance de-

serves special recognition.

What goes around comes

around. President Que-

zon at that time said “the

people of the Philippines

will have in the future ev-

ery reason to be glad that

when the time of need

came, their country was

willing to extend a hand of

Dr. Barbara Sasser presenting the documentary to the United welcome”.
Nations. Many years later when

natural disasters struck the

Visiting Aruba this week- inspire audiences with sto- Philippines, the state of Isra-

end is the co-producer of ries that exemplify Moral el and Jewish people from

that documentary, Dr. Bar- Courage”. The documen- all over the world remem-

bara Sasser, granddaugh- tary “Rescue in the Philip- bered! They were the first

ter of Alex Frieder, one of pines’” does exactly that. to respond and provided

the five brothers. A remark- The Schindlers of the Pa- the most help. The Open

able fact about the docu- cific were seven men from Door monument in Tel Aviv

mentary is that without any different backgrounds – commemorates the brav-

previous experience in film business, political, military- ery of the people of the

making, Mrs. Sasser estab- of different religions – Jew- Philippines in their rescue Logo of Yad Vashem - Center for Holocaust and Humanity
Education.
lished Frieder Films, LLC in ish, Roman Catholic, Prot- of over 1300 Jews and sym-