StandWithUs, and
Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
Film Presentation
May 21, 2015 6:30 P.M.
AN OPEN DOOR
JEWISH RESCUE IN THE PHILIPPINES -
It is the story of a deep friendship borne of common adversity and intense love for freedom. Together, Filipinos and Jews struggled, endured and ultimately prevailed.
A SPECIAL BOND:
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in November 2013, the most powerful storm to hit the land ever, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and IsraAID delegations were the first to set up a field hospital in the hardest hit areas of the island of Tacloban, Leyte. The IDF sent two Boeing 747's with 234 doctors, nurses and paramedics, as well as a state-of-the-art mobile hospital. Then Philippine Ambassador Generoso D.G. Calonge to Israel expressed appreciation for the assistance, saying, "I can't describe the feeling right now...that my host country cares about my stricken people..." Israel's humanitarian aid was just one more expression of the close bonds between the two nations.
On January 29, 2015, The Philippines and Israel reaffirmed their enduring friendly relations when the government of two states issued a joint stamp commemorating the Philippines rescue of Jews during the Holocaust. The joint commemorative stamp features the national flags and the Open Doors Monument, which honors the humanitarian act of President Manuel L. Quezon.
Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie opens its doors
Peggy Shapiro of StandWith Us welcomes Filipinos, Jews and Americans
CONSUL GENERAL GENEROSO D.G. CALONGE is a career diplomat whose career in the Foreign Service spans almost three decades. He has served in Philippine diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv (one of his children so happened to be named Golda, now 26), Washington D.C., Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Saipan in various capacities, as well as in the Department of Foreign Affairs' Office of the Undersecretary for Policy, Office for the International Economic Relations, Office of Legal Affairs, Office of Intelligence and Security Services, Office of Middle East and African Affairs, and Office of Asia and Pacific Affairs. ConGen Calonge graduated from the University of the Philippines in Economics and had a law degree from Harvard University. He is married to Atty. Gloria Salazar Calonge and has 3 children.
JACK SIMKE, Special Guest, was born May 17, 1949 and is a citizen of both the U.S.A. and the Philippines. He was the son of Holocaust survivor who found haven in the Philippines. He has had a distinguished career in international business and currently resides in California with his wife and two daughters.
NOEL "SONNY" IZON, is an independent filmmaker based in Hyattsville, MD. He has been involved in creative and broadcast design and production for over four decades. He has won many national awards for his work, which include some 100 nationally televised programs produced mainly for PBS and for National Geographic Television. He spent ten years at PBS affiliate WNVT-Virginia and at the Educational Film Center as a writer/producer before forming his own production company in 1980. He has produced films and videos for national and international clients, including the White House and the Vatican. An Open Door: is the third film in his World War II trilogy, Forgotten Stories. This unique film explores the rare confluence of the Pacific and European theaters. It juxtaposes momentous events in history such as the passage of Nuremberg Laws and the inauguration of the Philippines as a Commonwealth of the United States.
Q & A with Noel Izon and Jack Simke
I was wondering myself how it came about that the ship carrying more than 1300 Jews chose the Philippines? During World War II, the Americans and the British were at wars with the axis of Japan, Italy and Germany. When Japan invaded China, Germany sent a "Nazi" boat to Shanghai to save Germans living there. Ironically, the Germans Jews were also included as long as they were Germans. President Manuel L. Quezon with the assistance of U.S. Ambassador Paul McNuit to the Commonwealth of the Philippines provided 10,000 visas to refugees. During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines the German Jews were welcomed because of Japan's alliance with Germany.
Today, there are 8,000 relatives living around the world of Jewish rescue survivors in the Philippines.
Indeed, "You save a life, you save the world."
Private Reception by Host Jelly Carandang
Consul General's First Lady Atty. Gloria Calonge
Izon and Simke: Brothers but with different mothers
Cultural Officer Anna Liza F. Alcantara
From Left: Vicky Abad, Mrs. Lita Romero and Rose Salazar
From Left: Consul General Romero, Louisiana, self, Illinois NaFFA Chair Jelly Carandang
Related Blog http://libslabyrinth.blogspot.com/2010/09/monument-in-israel_3.html
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EXTENDED TRAILER AN OPEN DOOR IS A FEATURE-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY ON THE UPLIFTING STORY OF HOW A SMALL ASIAN NATION WAS ABLE TO SAVE OVER 1,300 JEWS AS THEY FLED THE POGROMS OF NAZI GERMANY.
IT MUST BE TRUE: I WAS TOLD A JEW EITHER LIKE YOU OR DON'T LIKE YOU. IF THEY LIKE YOU, YOU ARE THEIR FRIEND FOREVER. WITH FILIPINOS, ONCE YOU OWE THEM SOMETHING, YOU OWE THEM FOREVER AND FOREVER. IT'S CALLED IN TAGALOG "UTANG NA LOOB."
ReplyDeleteSINCE I WAS NOT BORN THEN, IT'S NICE TO SEE THE WORLD WAR II ARCHIVE PHOTOS AND FILM FOOTAGE. VERY MEMORABLE.
ReplyDeleteNOW I REALIZE WHY MY JEWISH NEIGHBOR MR. TANENBAUM LIKED ME SO MUCH. HE PROBABLY KNEW THE STORY OF THE JEWISH RESCUE IN THE PHILIPPINES. IT WAS AN UNTOLD STORY AND SO THE YOUNG FILIPINOS DID NOT KNOW ABOUT IT. I ASKED MYSELF THEN, WHY HE HAD BUSINESS DEALINGS WITH FILIPINOS?
ReplyDelete