Rescue in the Philippines:Refuge from the Holocaust”

Today in Philippine History (Philatelic Edition Series 3):

October 12, 2018

“Rescue in the Philippines:Refuge from the Holocaust” premiered in Munich, Germany on October 12, 2018 at the NS-Dokumentationszentrum, a museum dedicated to the History of the National Socialism and sits on the property where Nazi headquarters stood. 

The film was screened at important locations all over the world. It was shown in Israel at Yad Vashem, the Philippines at the Malacanang Palace with the Philippine president in attendance, at the United Nations, the Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC, and of course many holocaust museums around the US. 

It was broadcasted on TV in the Philippines, Poland, and public and commercial TV in the United States. 

“Rescue in The Philippines” is a one-hour documentary of the untold story of how the five Frieder brothers, Jewish Cincinnati businessmen making two-for-a-nickel cigars in pre-WWII Manila, together with Manuel Quezon, the charismatic first president of the Philippines, Paul McNutt, US High Commissioner and former governor of Indiana, and an ambitious Army Colonel named Dwight Eisenhower –  helped 1,200 Jews escape the Nazis and immigrate to the Philippines. 

Narrated by Liev Schreiber, the documentary recounts a little-known chapter of World War II heroism that is as heartbreaking as it is courageous. 

While much of the world was reluctant to help early victims of Nazi Germany, the Frieder brothers approached their late-night poker buddies; McNutt, Quezon, Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Field Marshall Douglas MacArthur for help and they were able to come up with a plan where they intended to admit as many as 100,000 European Jews to the Philippines. 

The Frieder brothers —Alex, Henry, Herbert, Philip and Morris, established residency in the Philippines in 1920 to expand their family’s US tobacco business. They not only raised money to help with expenses but also provided jobs. 

President Manuel L. Quezon institutionalized the Open Door policy by issuing Proclamation No. 173 on August 21, 1937 which urged Filipinos to welcome refugees and aid them. This became the basis of Commonwealth Act No. 613, later the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940. 

McNutt was tasked to convince the US State Department to issue as much visas as possible to Jewish refugees who seek to flee to the Philippines. 

Eisenhower was to devise a plan to help Jewish refugees settle in Mindanao. The United States government rejected the plan and only allowed the admission of 10,000 Jews in the Philippines or 1,000 Jews annually within a period of ten years. 

Quezon used his house, the Marikina Hall in Marikina as a place for the Jewish refugees. He welcomed them on April 23, 1940. After World War II, most refugees chose to leave the Philippines. 

President Manuel L. Quezon was posthumously awarded the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation Medal in 2015 for his Open Door policy. His daughter, Nini Quezon-Avanceña received the honor. His Open Doors policy is the reason why Filipino citizens can visit Israel visa-free.

(Design, concept, stamps and research: Richard Allan B. Uy) All rights reserved

Photo credit: wikipedia.org