The five Frieder brothers from Cincinnati, Ohio (Philip, Henry, Alex, Morris, and Herbert) made their fortune in cigars, which they manufactured in the Philippines. The brothers took turns managing the cigar production. Every two years, one of the brothers (excluding Henry) and his family would relocate to their home at 44 Brixton Hill, Santa Mesa, Manila. The Frieder brothers were passionate poker players and often played with influential individuals, such as President Manuel L. Quezon, the US High Commissioner Paul V. McNutt, and Army Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the late 1930s, together, they devised a way to provide refuge in the Philippines to German and Austrian Jews. President Quezon stipulated that those who came not be a burden on the Philippine economy, so the tiny Jewish community in Manila accepted that responsibility. While McNutt pressured the US State Department to keep Philippine borders open to refugees, the Frieder brothers (working with the Joint Distribution Committee) arranged transportation and visas for European Jews who possessed skills in fourteen occupations, one being cigar manufacturing. President Quezon provided a temporary home for the refugees where they could live and grow their own food on the land he was developing for his son. The haven was named Mariquina Hall. Between 1937 and 1941, the Frieder brothers, McNutt, Quezon, and Eisenhower aided in the rescue of over 1,300 Jews. In December 1941, the Japanese invaded the Philippines. All Frieder brothers had returned to the US a month earlier in anticipation of the invasion. Between December 1941 and September 1945, Manila was under Japanese occupation. Ironically, during that time, unlike all other internationals who were interned in a make-shift prison in Santo Tomas University, the Jewish refugees were considered Germans - therefore allies of Japan - and not imprisoned. A few refugees were killed in the crossfire between US and Japanese armies as the battle for Manila ended. Birthdates: Alex Frieder - December 2, 1893 Corinne Rosenberg Frieder - March 11, 1893 Edna Frieder Lichtig - August 7, 1918 Louise Frieder - June 12, 1922 Alice Frieder Weston - July 1, 1926
Alex Frieder boards a Philippine Airlines airplane and poses with a flight attendant. He shakes hands with the pilot and others. Scenes of logging and manufacturing, presumably in Manila. Several men wave and pose for the camera by the factory and automobiles. 01:04:10 LS, a Filipino man climbs a tall palm tree. Boats on the water. 01:04:46 Alex and others stand inside a factory beside an enormous tree that has been felled. CUs, mechanics and machines at work. Alex shakes hands with locals. Scenes of the shoreline and people on boats, beautiful shots. Hotels on the harbor."Bowline Knot / Manil" ship. 01:06:58 Pan of a group of locals posing for the camera. Quick view of well-dressed people in white (nuns in BG); Alex and a woman (Alice?) wearing sunglasses look after a dog. 01:07:16 Pan (in China or Hong Kong?), landscape, waterways, boats, busy harbor. Alex takes a ride in a rickshaw. Pan up to movie marquis at the"Apoll" showing"Dark Water" with Merle Oberon. Dark shots of the tourists - Alex and a man in a suit. A couple, then Alex and the woman, pose in the doorway of the Hotel Riviera. She waves from the dock. Water and the ship from on-deck. 01:09:25 Arriving at a port at sunset. Pan, farm. A girl (granddaughter?) rides a pony. Tobacco at the factory, presumably back in Manila. Piles of logs. Men construct a roof for a large building. Pan up of large, modern apartment building on a busy street. Men carry large bundles of vegetation over their shoulders.
Alex Frieder tours factories and sights in Manila and the Far East in 1948