[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 113 (Thursday, August 1, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PHILIPPINES GENEROSITY TO JEWISH REFUGEES

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. ALAN GRAYSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 1, 2013

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to a 
remarkable story, previously lost to history. Namely, how the 
Philippines generously opened its doors to Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi 
persecution, when all other nations barred their entry.
  I would like to posthumously commend Manuel Quezon, President of the 
Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935-1944) for his resolve to lobby 
for immigration rights for Jewish refugees even at great political 
risk. He saved the lives of 1,305 Jews by allowing them entry into the 
Philippines and would have saved thousands more had the US State 
Department had allowed its commonwealth to do so.
  An extraordinary tale, President Quezon collaborated with his high-
profile associates, US High Commissioner Paul McNutt, Colonel (and 
future president) Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the Frieders, four Jewish 
businessmen from Ohio who had a cigar business in Manila, to overcome 
the huge bureaucratic and logistical challenges of saving people from 
the Holocaust.
  I would like also to recognize the US Philippines Society for giving 
this story a resurgent voice and hosting a round table on June 10, 2013 
titled ``Holocaust Haven in the Philippines'' which focused on an 
upcoming film documenting this story, An Open Door. The US Philippines 
Society, which recently opened its offices in Washington, D.C. on May 
1, 2012, is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization 
whose mission it is to build on the rich and longstanding historical 
ties between the United States of America and the Philippines.
  An Open Door was produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker 
Noel M. Izon. This is the third film in his World War II trilogy 
Forgotten Stories. The film was co-produced by author and professor at 
St. John Fisher College, Sharon Delmendo.
  The Filipino people extended a warm welcome to those who undoubtedly 
would have faced horrible atrocity if stranded in Europe. I hope that 
this story of human generosity and duty to help those in peril may find 
an audience among the U.S. public so we can appreciate the ingenuity 
and heroic risks taken by Manuel Quezon to protect victims of the 
Holocaust.

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