A harrowing account of Jewish refugees in the Philippines
With the rise of Nazism in the 1930s more than a thousand European Jews sought refuge in the Philippines, joining the small Jewish population of Manila. When the Japanese invaded the islands in 1941, the peaceful existence of the barely settled Jews filled with the kinds of uncertainties and oppression they thought they had left behind. Escape to Manila gathers the testimonies of thirty-six refugees, who describe the difficult journey to Manila, the lives they built there, and the events surrounding the Japanese invasion. Combining these accounts with historical and archival records, Manila newspapers, and U.S. government documents, Frank Ephraim constructs a detailed account of this little-known chapter of world history.
"The book's riveting centerpiece combines military history and personal horror to describe the Battle of Manila. . . . Burned out of their homes, Jews roam the streets with other civilians, seeking safe havens, crouching to dodge bullets, hiding in holes dug in the ground covered with corrugated roofing. . . . Escape to Manila . . . enables readers to know and feel the fires."--Hadassah Magazine
"The vignettes and first person histories make for very interesting reading."--Jewish Book World
"Ephraim has constructed a fascinating narrative from a rich mix of archival research, oral history, and autobiographical memoir. He offers us a stirring portrait of a community of resourceful, resilient, courageous, and compassionate individuals."--Michael Shapiro, director, Program in Jewish Culture and Society, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Frank Ephraim was born in Berlin in 1931 and fled to the Philippines with his parents in 1939. In 1946 he emigrated to the United States. After a career in naval architecture, he served as the director of program evaluation for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Hi Everyone,I am pleased to announce that PAFC 2009 DAKILA Awardee and award-winning documentary producer/director Noel "Sonny" Izon will be interviewed on Monday, January 23rd at 4 pm regarding his latest work, "An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines on NPR's "Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders."I highly urge you to listen and participate in this most interesting interview/discussion. That way, Sonny will be assured of a return interview. Herewith are the following ways TO PARTICIPATE:
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Monday, January 23, from 4 – 5 pm EST / 3 – 4 pm CST on Here on
Earth: Radio without Borders from Wisconsin Public Radio:
An Open Door: Jewish Rescue in the Philippines
Most of us have heard of Schindler’s List, but how many of us know
about the shiploads of German and Austrian Jews who were rescued in the
Philippines beginning in 1935, when most other nations turned them
away. Filipino filmmaker Noel Izon, who owes his life to a German
Jewish refugee, sets out to document the story of Jewish rescue in the
Philippines in his new film, An Open Door.
“It is my hope, & indeed my expectation, that the people of the
Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when
the time of need came, their country was glad to extend to a persecuted
people, a hand of welcome.” - Manuel Quezon, President of the
Philippine Commonwealth, April 23, 1940
Guest:
Noel Izon is an independent filmmaker based in Hyattsville, MD. Over
the past four decades, he has won many national awards for his work,
which includes some 100 nationally televised programs produced mainly
for PBS and for National Geographic Television. An Open Door: Jewish
Rescue in the Philippines is the third in his trilogy of forgotten
World War II stories.
Links:
A history of Jews in the Philippines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_Philippines
Jerusalem Post: Open Doors and Open Hearts
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=177440
Marika Suval, Producer
Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders
Wisconsin Public Radio | 821 University Ave | Madison, WI 53706
Office: (+1) 608-265-3002 | www.hereonearth.org |Thank you and best regards,Mitzi PickardPhilippine Arts, Letters and Media (PALM) PresidentTel: 703-909-0791