Amsterdam Frits Barend was awarded a prize in Argentina during a special trip

Journalist Frits Barend returned today from a special trip from Argentina. He was there together with colleague Jan van der Putten to receive a few awards, which he received for his support and attention for the so-called ‘Foolish mothers’. Barend called the past few days in Argentina ‘very special’.

Silly mothers

The ‘Foolish Mothers’ was a group of Argentine mothers who gathered every Thursday morning at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires for almost thirty years from the 1970s. There they asked about the fate of their children who disappeared during the regime of dictator Jorge Videla.

Barend came across the story of the ‘Foolish Mothers’ during the widely controversial World Cup in 1978. He decided not to travel to the stadium, but to visit the Plaza de Mayo. “About twenty to thirty women told such moving stories there. Stories that I will never forget.” Not much later, Barend, one of the first foreign journalists, wrote an extensive article about it in Vrij Nederland.

One on one with Videla

The stories affected him so much that he personally spoke to dictator Jorge Videla about the disappearances during a dinner of the World Cup dictator Jorge Videla. “Just before the main course I joined Videla.”

“Where are the missing children,” I asked him. To which the dictator replied: “They are lies. The people you spoke to in the square are terrorists.” The conversation ended shortly afterwards. Barend and his colleague went back to the hotel and would fly back home a day later.

Nothing turned out to be further from the truth. While they are on their way home by plane the next day, a sudden stop is made. Barend and his colleague are arrested in Argentina. What follows is a day without water or food at the airport. “My colleague feared that we would never see our family again. Strangely enough, I have never been afraid or nervous.” And that premonition turns out to be correct: without any explanation, Barend and his colleague are put back on the plane home after hours at the airport.

Award

Barend has been decorated in Argentina in recent days for his support and courage. During the many conversations Frits Barend had in Argentina in recent days, one specific thing stuck with him. At a meeting with various human rights organizations, Barend also told his personal story about the Holocaust and the murder of his grandparents. “Then I broke down for a moment. I was sitting next to two boys who never knew their parents.” At that moment he wondered: ‘What kind of world do we actually live in?’

Barend cannot completely separate the timing of the awards from the current political situation in the South American country. According to him, its future is at stake with the upcoming elections. “A right-wing conservative candidate currently has 30 percent of the votes.” Someone who, by the way, believes that the disappearances under the military junta are greatly exaggerated.

According to the journalist, his presence had a clear police significance. But, Barend jokes: “I like to be abused for things like this.”