Volkswagen Celebrates Sara Frenkel-Bass on Her 100th Birthday

Photo credit: Volkswagen

Volkswagen celebrates and congratulates Sara Frenkel-Bass on her 100th birthday, a Holocaust survival. Sara Frenkel-Bass was a forced laborer and has dedicated her life to fighting for respect, and tolerance and to ensuring that the past is never forgotten. Volkswagen apprentices gathered to show their gratitude to Sara and in addition laid flowers in memory of all the children who died as a result of forced labor. Volkswagen remains grateful for Sara’s great contribution to the company’s memorial work. Let’s talk more about the meeting of the Volkswagen apprentices in appreciation of Sara Frenkel-Bass. 

Approximately 100 Volkswagen apprentices gathered for a photo at Sara Frenkel-Platz in memory of Sara, because it was very important for her to talk and interact with the young people. While the photo was being taken the Volkswagen trainees took the opportunity to place flowers in memory of the children who lived in the children’s place in Rühen, these children, unfortunately, passed away in the era of nationalism. Lina Schröder and Nils Hegemann, two young Volkswagen employees researched deeply into the biography of Sara Frenkel-Bass and made a great presentation about the great work of Sara Frenkel-Bass allowing all present to learn more about the history of Sara Frenkel-Bass. Sara Frenkel had a war cry “Abolish injustice, don’t look away”, as a gift all involved signed the photograph and gave it to the centenarian in Antwerp. The most important gift, however, is the commitment of young people, something that will last for a long time to come. 

“Sara Frenkel-Bass has shared her experiences as a Holocaust survivor with generations of young people at Volkswagen and beyond. Her commitment to ensuring that the past and the core values we share are not forgotten is more important than ever in the present moment. We are very grateful for that, as expressed in this photo, which is a token of that appreciation, which came about at the initiative of our apprentices. On behalf of Volkswagen, I wish Sara Frenkel-Bass all the best on her big day,” announced Gunnar Kilian, Member of the Board of Human Resources at Volkswagen AG.

The chairwoman of the General and Group Works Council, Daniela Cavallo, emphasizes the importance of dialogue between generations and Volkswagen sets a good example by maintaining the dialogue between generations by addressing the issues of remembrance and responsibility. Thanks to the great contribution of contemporary witnesses such as Sara Frenkel-Bass, young Volkswagen employees have addressed the past on behalf of the Volkswagen workforce with great commitment, consistency, and responsibility. 

For several years Sara Frenkel-Bass has been campaigning for peace, respect, and tolerance to ensure that the past is not forgotten. Sara Frenkel-Bass and her younger sister were the only ones in their family to survive the persecution of Jews in occupied Poland and managed to survive more than two years of forced labor in the German Reich. Sara and her sister disguised themselves as Catholic nurses to survive and the most painful memory for Sara was the death of the children of the forced laborers, those who for racial reasons were separated from their mothers and died of malnutrition and were abandoned in the “Ausländerkinderpflegeheim” (home for children of forced laborers) in Rühen.  After all the torment Sara had to endure, at the end of the war, Sara married Manfred Frenkel in Braunschweig where they lived for some time, and had their first son Chaim. In 1949 Sara and her family emigrated to Israel where they lived for 5 years and then returned to Europe. Since the family’s return, Sara Frenkel-Bass lived in Antwerp (Belgium).

Drive New Volkswagen With Our Help At Southern Volkswagen

At Southern Volkswagen, we’re more than excited to help our customers and we have the right staff to make it happen. Searching for a new option to buy or lease? Take a look at our new vehicle inventory or our quality pre-owned vehicles. We can help sell your current vehicle or bring it back to life like new with an online appointment to our service center. Allow our professional techs to get started on all repairs or maintenance work.

We’re here to help with any financial help, needs or suggestions to help make paying for a vehicle easier. Reach out to us and see what we can do for you today at Southern Volkswagen.