Besides the fact that 'Frieda' is an awesome name, Frieda Belinfante was also an awesome woman. Prior to the war, she was the first woman in Europe to be artistic director and conductor of an ongoing professional orchestral ensemble. Then when the Nazis occupied her home country of the Netherlands, they insisted that all Jews register "for their own safety." Yeah right. Frieda began helping to forge documents for Jewish families to avoid discovery. When the Nazis started catching on and began comparing the forged documents to archival records, Frieda and her friends decided to take the plan a step further. They blew up the population registry. With a horde of pissed-off Nazis after her, she disguised herself as a man and lived with a friend for 3 months until she could escape to the neutral country of Switzerland. As a bold postscript to an already courageous woman, she was also openly lesbian throughout her life.
Prewar in a dashing zoot suit and beautiful pompadour
Frieda embodies resistance, 1942
