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My name is Fred S. Findling. I am
a Holocaust survivor. I wrote
a book about my life and
experiences titled “Siegfried The
Dragon Slayer”. It is available on
Amazon for $12.95.
This photo of me was taken in
Southern France in 1940,
during World War II.
I speak twice per month at
the Holocaust Memorial Center
on Orchard Lake Rd. in
Farmington Hills.
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36
August 31 • 2017
jn
2162010
The late William Serman had shirts and hats made for the children of the team he sponsored
back in the 1980s.
Israel’s Baseball Roots
A
seed that sprouted in 1987
has come to fruition. Little
League baseball took root in
Israel 30 years ago, thanks in part
to a local group I co-founded. This
summer, many of the boys who got
their start in Little League played
on Israel’s national
team in the World
Baseball Classic.
When I and
David Dombey vis-
ited Israel in 1987,
we were struck by
the fact that while
young Israelis
Robert
participated in bas-
Sternberg
ketball, soccer and
tennis, organized
baseball was non-
existent. We decid-
ed to organize a group dedicated to
creating Little League in Israel.
After identifying a group of indi-
viduals interested in helping in this
endeavor, the American Friends of
Israel Association of Baseball was
formed. Our initial goal was to col-
lect equipment such as balls, bats
and gloves, as well as donations to
develop fields.
In addition to me and Dombey,
supporters included Phillip
Applebaum, the late Roy Clark,
Irwin Cohen, Phillip Jacobs, Benno
Levi, the late Larry Roger, Ed
Rosenthal, the late William Serman,
Ronald Sherr, Dr. David Unger,
Sydney Weinstein, David Werner
and Irving Yura. The group was also
established with the help of the
Kahn family, who had made aliyah.
Teams were developed, along
with rudimentary baseball fields so
young people had a place to play
the game. Eventually, the city of
Jerusalem and Ra’anana allocated
land to develop Little League fields.
After returning from Israel, William
Israel’s national team won two games in this
year’s World Baseball Classic.
Serman had shirts and hats made
for the children of the team he
sponsored.
With the assistance of American
coaches and sponsors, the children
developed the skills necessary to
compete internationally. By the
summer of 1990, a national Israeli
team was selected to compete in
the European regional Little League
tournament at Ramstein Air Base in
West Germany. The fledgling team
managed to win two games in their
first international competition,
pitted against teams from Jordan,
Saudi Arabia, the U.K., Spain, West
Germany and others.
Fast forward to now. Many of
those same boys — now playing
for Israel — won two games in the
World Baseball Classic, ranking
19th in the world and fourth in
Europe.
Without the dedicated
Detroiters and Americans who had
made aliyah and helped baseball
take root among Israeli youth —
and the American Friends of Israel
Association of Baseball — the
sport of baseball would not have
blossomed in Israel and be where
it is today. •