Monday, January 1, 2024
THE FAB 5
As the last surviving member of the Fab 5 allow me to sketch some of the background of this group.
Picture in your mind a place called Utrecht in the Netherlands in the late 1940’s. This was only a few years after the end of WW2, the country was poor and we were all determined to build for ourselves a better life than what we had experienced so far.
Our group did not exist formally, we just happened.
We were all in our late teens and neither of us was yet engaged or married.
But we all had distinct visions of our future life.
From left to right in the picture, Loek van Ekdom who loved animals, chose to be a Veterinarian.
Next to him kind and gentle Alphons Stultiens, who coached some of us in table tennis. He chose a future life in sports.
George Dor, who built radios, went for Engineering.
Rob Koppert, loved by all, who dreamt of a country practice and a garden with ducks and chickens would study Medicine.
In front of the photo our Dan, who liked motor cars and everything English, clearly was destined for entrepreneurship.
Dan was the one with a wonderful sense of humor, which had all of us in stitches.
He lightened up the conversation when it got a bit too serious.
He was the first one to decide to emigrate, in fact this last picture of our group was taken just before he left for England.
The things we discussed were not very controversial, we never protested in public to make a point, but there was a determination to succeed.
Many things were unspoken, yet communicated, and above all there was a common understanding of the real values of life.
And that is why our fab 5 were so special.
George Dor, Australia
