Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust (2013) Movie Script
[ CHANTING ]
Man: I REMEMBER THE GERMANS
CAME.
THE MOB WAS SCREAMING BLOODY
MURDER.
"KILL THE JEWS."
WE WERE HIDING IN THE CELLAR.
THEY...
BROKE INTO THE STORE
AND WERE LOOTING.
WE WENT DOWNSTAIRS AFTER THEY
LEFT, AND THERE WAS NOTHING
LEFT.
I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES TO
THIS DAY.
WE APPARENTLY GOT A LETTER
THAT SAID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE
GERMANY.
WE WERE THE LAST TRAIN
OUT OF BERLIN.
[ SPEAKING GERMAN ]
"WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?"
Narrator: THE
BEST HOPE FOR
JEWS WAS ESCAPE.
MOST OF THE WORLD
CLOSED ITS
DOORS, BUT ONE FLEDGLING
NATION, THE PHILIPPINES,
DID NOT.
IN THIS TROPICAL PARADISE
THOUSANDS OF MILES
FROM EUROPE,
AN UNLIKELY
GROUP OF POKER
PLAYERS WERE
PLANNING A RESCUE.
THESE POKER PLAYERS WERE
MANUEL QUEZON,
THE COUNTRY'S
NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT;
PAUL McNUTT, U.S.
HIGH COMMISSIONER TO
THE PHILIPPINES;
AN AMBITIOUS ARMY
COLONEL NAMED
DWIGHT EISENHOWER;
AND FIVE
CIGAR MAKERS FROM
CINCINNATI --
THE FRIEDER BROTHERS.
THEY HAD A PLAN,
A PLAN THA WOULD SAVE MORE
THAN 1,300 JEWS FROM NAZI
DEATH CAMPS.
A PLAN FOR A
"RESCUE IN THE
PHILIPPINES."
[ GLASS SHATTERS ]
Woman: HOW COULD ANYBODY HAVE
KNOWN THAT IT WOULD GET TO BE
WHAT IT DID?
HOW COULD ANYBODY HAVE IMAGINED?
THAT A WHOLE NATION WOULD CLOSE
ITS EYES AND EARS?
AND YET, YOU KNOW WHAT?
I THINK IT COULD HAPPEN
ANYWHERE AGAIN.
[ HITLER SPEAKING GERMAN ]
BEGINNING IN 1933,
ADOLF HITLER AND
HIS NAZI THUGS
STEADILY
TRANSFORMED FIRS GERMANY, THEN
MUCH OF EUROPE,
INTO A LIVING NIGHTMARE
FOR JEWS.
Woman: THEN IN 1935, THE
NUREMBERG LAWS CAME OUT, WHICH
STRIPPED JEWS OF CITIZENSHIP.
ALL OF THEIR RIGHTS WERE SLOWLY
BEING STRIPPED AWAY.
JEWS WERE NO
LONGER GERMANS,
EVEN IF THEY HAD FOUGH AND BLED FOR
THEIR COUNTRY
IN PREVIOUS WARS.
MY DAD TOOK ALL HIS MEDALS,
WHICH HAD BEEN FRAMED,
AND TOOK THEM OUTSIDE AND THREW
THEM INTO THE PYRE.
JEWISH HOMES
WERE INVADED.
Woman: I WAS IN
THE CRIB STILL AND...
THE S.S. CAME.
I GUESS I WAS TAKING A NAP.
AND I WOKE UP, AND MY EYE-LEVEL
WAS THEIR BOOTS, THESE SHINY,
SHINY BOOTS.
AND I REMEMBER SCREAMING
MY HEAD OFF.
NAZI PROPAGANDA
PRESENTED
JEWS AS TRAITORS,
KILLERS,
MONSTERS.
Man: KIDS CAME AND THREW
STONES AT ME AND CALLED ME
"DIRTY JEW."
AND WORS OF ALL, THEIR
LOVED ONES COULD
BE TAKEN A ANY MOMENT.
Man: THE NAZIS CAME IN,
KNOCKED ON THE DOOR, TOOK MY
FATHER OUT AND PUT HIM
INTO DACHAU.
THE VIOLENCE PEAKED IN
NOVEMBER 1938
WITH A HIGHLY
ORGANIZED ORGY
OF DESTRUCTION
AND TERROR.
IT WAS
CALLED KRISTALLNACH BECAUSE THE
GLASS FROM THE
BROKEN WINDOWS
GLITTERED IN
THE STREET LIKE CRYSTAL.
- Man:
- KRISTALLNACHT ARRIVED
AND THE S.S. GROUP, S.R. MEN,
CAME TO OUR HOUSE, CAME THROUGH
THE DOOR...
WENT TO THE BATHROOMS AND INTO
THE LIVING ROOM,
DESTROYED EVERYTHING.
Hershfield: FOUR OF THEM CAME
IN WITH THE DOGS.
AND I WAS TERRIBLY FRIGHTENED.
I WAS TERRIBLY FRIGHTENED THA THEY WOULD TAKE MY DOLLS.
I REMEMBER WHEN THEY
BURNED THE TEMPLE.
IT WAS ABLAZE
AND SURROUNDED BY THE GERMAN
FIRE DEPARTMENT, WHICH MADE SURE
THAT NONE OF THE NON-JEWISH
HOMES WERE GOING TO BE BURNED.
Man: I WAS ASLEEP WHEN
THE S.S...
KNOCKED ON THE DOOR.
AND IN ORDER TO GET OUT,
I WENT BACK INTO MY ROOM,
DRESSED IN THE OLDEST CLOTHES
I HAD, TOOK A STICK,
AND WENT DOWN THE STAIRS
INTO THE HALL WHERE THE MOB WAS
SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER.
AND I TOOK THAT STICK AND BROKE
A FEW, I THINK IT WAS PAINTINGS
OR MIRRORS, MYSELF UNTIL I GO TO THE OUT -- TO THE OUTSIDE.
THAT NIGHT, MY GRANDMOTHER
AND I WERE ALL BY OURSELVES.
AND, SUDDENLY, STONES CRASHED
THROUGH OUR WINDOWS.
THEN I KNEW THAT THEY WERE
AFTER US.
WE WERE HUNTED.
WHEN KRISTALLNACHT WAS
OVER,
MORE THAN A
HUNDRED SYNAGOGS
HAD BURNED.
THOUSANDS OF
JEWISH BUSINESSES
WERE DESTROYED,
AND TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF
JEWS WERE FORCED
INTO CONCENTRATION
CAMPS...
ALL IN THE PASSAGE OF
JUST ONE NIGHT.
DIPLOMATS HELD MEETINGS,
MADE SPEECHES, AND PASSED
RESOLUTIONS...
BUT LITTLE, IF
ANYTHING, WAS
DONE.
Man: EUROPEAN JEWRY IS
REALLY GROUND TO DUST BETWEEN
TWO BIG MILLSTONES.
ONE IS
THE HATEFUL BESTIALITY OF NAZI
GERMANY, AND THE OTHER IS THE
APATHY OF THE GOVERNMENTS
OF THE WORLD.
IN ONE COUNTRY
HALF A WORLD
AWAY, AN ESCAPE
PLAN TO PROVIDE
REFUGE FOR JEWS
WAS ALREADY
UNDERWAY.
6,000 MILES FROM
BERLIN, THE
PHILIPPINES WAS
A COUNTRY MOS EUROPEANS KNEW ONLY FROM
POSTCARDS.
MUCH LIKE THE MOVIE
"CASABLANCA,"
PEOPLE LIVED BY
THEIR OWN RULES.
MOTORCARS SHARED
THE ROADS
WITH HORSE-DRAWN
"CARAMATAS."
COCA-COLA COEXISTED WITH
CARABAOS.
AND AT THE LEGENDARY
MANILA HOTEL,
THE ELITE COULD
SIT AND SHARE A DRINK IN
AIR-CONDITIONED COMFORT.
FOR CENTURIES, MANILA HAD
WELCOMED REFUGEES.
Man: IT WAS REALLY
A FANTASTIC MIX OF
DIFFERENT PEOPLES --
CZECHS, POLES, LATVIANS,
LEBANESE, MIDDLE EAST --
PEOPLE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST,
INDIANS.
IT WAS A MIXTURE.
AND I THINK THAT WAS ONE THING
THAT MADE MANILA SUCH A
COSMOPOLITAN CENTER -- BECAUSE
OF ALL THESE PEOPLE COMING AND
GOING, TRADING, STAYING,
MIXING, INTERMARRYING.
THE PHILIPPINES
WAS ONCE
A U.S. COLONY.
BUT IN 1935,
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN
ROOSEVEL SIGNED A LAW MAKING IT A
SEMI-INDEPENDEN COMMONWEALTH,
PROMISING COMPLETE
INDEPENDENCE
IN 10 YEARS.
SEOR QUEZON,
I CONGRATULATE YOU.
ALL OF YOU.
MR. PRESIDENT, I WANT TO
EXPRESS TO YOU THE...
PRESIDEN MANUEL QUEZON WAS
DETERMINED HIS
COUNTRY WOULD
TAKE ITS PLACE
AMONG THE GREA NATIONS OF THE WORLD.
MANUEL LUIS QUEZON WAS A
COMPLEX PERSON
WHO MADE A DEEP
AND LASTING
IMPRESSION ON HIS
COUNTRY.
BORN POOR, HE
MOVED INTO THE
WORLD OF WEALTH
AND POWER WITH
EASY BRAVADO.
Man: HE HAD THE TOTAL
SELF-ASSURANCE THAT HE WAS
THE EQUAL OF ANYONE HE FACED.
THERE IS A FILIPINO CONCEP THAT WE CALL THE COLONIAL
MENTALITY, THIS IDEA THAT YOU'RE
INFERIOR, THAT YOU'RE NEVER
QUITE AS GOOD.
HE NEVER HAD THAT PROBLEM.
Woman: HE WAS A SNAPPY
DRESSER, YOU KNOW, BUT HE LOVED
TO DANCE AND HE LOVED
TO PARTY, TOO.
ONE WRITER
SAID, "HE IS FULL
OF NERVE AND NERVES.
HE IS ONE OF THE
WORLD'S BES BALLROOM DANCERS,
ALSO ONE OF
THE WORLD'S SUBTLEST AND
HARDEST-BOILED
POLITICIANS.
HE LOVES CARDS
AND ALCOHOL,
AND HE LOVES
HIS COUNTRY."
MANUEL QUEZON ALSO LOVED
THE UNDERDOG.
Quezon III: A MAN LIKE
QUEZON, WHO HIMSELF HAD BEEN
A PRISONER, WHO HAD GOTTEN
MALARIA IN THE FIELD, WOULD HAVE
KNOWN WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ON
THE RUN, TO HAVE NO OPTIONS...
TO...
A MAN WORKING FOR THE FREEDOM OF
HIS COUNTRY WOULD CERTAINLY KNOW
WHAT IT'S LIKE WHEN SOMEONE
COMES KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR AND
SAYS, "WE WANT TO BE FREE."
FDR: I HAVE BEEN COMPELLED
TO CONTRAST OUR PEACE...
WHILE THOUSANDS
MARCHED IN
THE UNITED STATES
TO PROTES THE HORRORS
OF KRISTALLNACHT,
IN THE PHILIPPINES,
MANUEL QUEZON HAD
ALREADY GONE
BEYOND PROTEST TO ACTION,
PROCLAIMING THAT BARRING
REFUGEES WAS
SIMPLY NOT RIGHT.
Woman: OTHER COUNTRIES,
PERHAPS, DID NOT THINK IT THA IMPORTANT.
I DON'T PRESUME TO SAY.
BUT I KNOW THAT DAD...
HAD THE MORAL COURAGE TO DO I BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN THE
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
AND THE RIGHT OF PEOPLE TO LIVE
LIFE AS THEY BELIEVED
THEY SHOULD.
IN 1937, A YEAR BEFORE
KRISTALLNACHT,JAPAN'S
BRUTAL
CONQUEST OF CHINA
HAD REACHED
THE CITY OF SHANGHAI,
WHERE REFUGEES
HAD ALREADY
FOUND SHELTER.
EUROPEAN CITIZENS WERE IN
DANGER, SO THE GERMAN
GOVERNMENT HAD
SENT AN OCEAN
LINER TO EVACUATE
PEOPLE FROM
THE BATTERED CITY.
THE NAZIS IN
SHANGHAI ALSO
EVACUATED ANY
JEWISH REFUGEES
WHO FELT IN DANGER.
Woman: THE SITUATION LED TO
GERMAN JEWS AND GERMAN CITIZENS
BEING BROUGHT DOWN TO MANILA.
WHEN THE
JEWISH REFUGEES
REACHED MANILA, THEY WERE
GREETED BY
PHILLIP FRIEDER,
WHO, IN A MATTER
OF HOURS, HAD
RAISED THOUSANDS
OF DOLLARS
FOR THEIR SUPPORT.
IRONICALLY, I WAS A GERMAN
CONSUL WHO SUGGESTED TO
FRIEDER THAT I MIGHT BE A GOOD
IDEA IF HE TOOK
CARE OF THE
JEWISH PASSENGERS.
THERE WERE ONLY
A HANDFUL OF
JEWISH FAMILIES WHO COULD
AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE TO A
REFUGEE FUND,
BUT THE FRIEDER
BROTHERS TOOK ON
THE TASK ANYWAY.
NUMBER ONE, THEY WERE
ABLE TO.
THEY WERE IN A POSITION WHERE
THEY COULD TALK TO THE RIGH PEOPLE.
NUMBER TWO, THEY SAW WHAT WAS
HAPPENING, AND THEY KNEW THA SOMEBODY HAD TO DO SOMETHING,
SO THEY DID.
IN THE MEANTIME, HIS
BROTHERS BACK
IN CINCINNATI
CONTACTED MAJOR REFUGEE
ORGANIZATIONS
FOR DESPERATELY
NEEDED FUNDS.
Woman: THE FRIEDER BROTHERS
WORKED AS A UNIT.
WHILE UNCLE ALEX WAS IN THE
PHILIPPINES, MY GRANDFATHER
MORRIS FRIEDER WAS IN
WASHINGTON, AND PHILLIP WAS
INVOLVED IN ALL PIECES.
Man: ATHLETES, SCHOLARS,
MOVIE STARS
THEY ALL APPRECIATE
A FINE CIGAR
RICH AROMA...
HUNGARIAN IMMIGRAN SAMUEL FRIEDER
BEGAN AN EMPIRE
BY SELLING CIGARS
OUT OF HIS
NEW YORK CITY HOME BEFORE
WORLD WAR I.
EVENTUALLY, ALL
FIVE OF HIS
SONS -- PHILLIP,
HENRY, ALEX,
MORRIS, AND HERBERT --
WERE IN THE BUSINESS.
CIGARS WERE BIG.
THE FRIEDERS
SPECIALIZED IN
TWO-FOR-A-NICKEL CIGARS.
AND SINCE THE
BEST OF THOSE
WERE MADE FROM
PHILIPPINE TOBACCO,
THEY WENT RIGH TO THE SOURCE.
Man: PHILLIP, AT AGE MAYBE
32 OR 34, GETS ON A BOAT.
IT TAKES HIM THREE AND A HALF
WEEKS TO GET TO THE PHILIPPINES,
AND THE REST IS HISTORY BECAUSE
WHEN HE'S THERE, HE MEETS ALL
THE GROWERS AND
THE MANUFACTURERS, AND THEY
START BUYING CIGARS
FROM THEM DIRECTLY.
AND THEN THEY FIGURE OUT THAT I PROBABLY WOULD BE MORE
ADVANTAGEOUS TO THEM IF THEY
COULD DO THE MANUFACTURING.
WELL, I THINK WHEN THEY FIRS GOT TO THE PHILIPPINES, THERE
WERE, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY
AMERICANS WERE THERE.
I DON'T THINK THERE WERE
30 JEWISH FAMILIES THERE.
IN LESS THAN 20 YEARS,
S. FRIEDER &
SONS HAD BECOME
ONE OF THE BIGGES EXPORTERS OF
PHILIPPINE CIGARS,
PRODUCING
250 MILLION STOGIES
EVERY YEAR.
THIS PHENOMENAL
SUCCESS WAS THE
RESULT OF HARD
WORK AND STRONG
FAMILY TIES.
Peggy Ellis: THEY WERE HAPPY,
FAMILY-LOVING, LIFE-EMBRACING
CHARACTERS.
THEY WERE LEADERS IN THEIR
COMMUNITY, SO THEY SEEMED TO
SLIP SEAMLESSLY INTO BEING
LEADERS IN THE PHILIPPINES.
BACK IN CINCINNATI,
THE FRIEDERS ALL
LIVED ON THE
SAME BLOCK.
THEY TOOK TURNS
OVERSEEING THE
BUSINESS IN THE
PHILIPPINES,
AND AS EACH BROTHER
BROUGHT HIS
FAMILY FOR A
TWO-YEAR TOUR OF
DUTY IN MANILA,
THEY SHARED
THE BIG HOUSE ON
BRIXTON HILL ROAD.
Woman: WE HAD A NICE YARD.
BEAUTIFUL TREES AND ORCHIDS
AROUND THE PERIMETER.
SWIMMING POOL, TENNIS COURT.
WE BELONGED TO A LOT OF CLUBS.
IT WAS A VERY GRACIOUS LIFE.
WHILE THE
CHILDREN SWAM AND
PLAYED, RODE
PONIES, AND HAD
IMPROMPTU DANCE RECITALS,
THE ADULTS MOVED WITHIN
MANILA'S
GLITTERING SOCIAL
WORLD.
Sasser: MY GRANDMOTHER KEP A BOOKLET OF ENTERTAINING
THAT SHE WOULD DO REGULARLY,
AND THERE IS AN ENTRY FROM
SEPTEMBER OF 1939.
AND THE PEOPLE ATTENDING THIS
DINNER PARTY AT MY
GRANDPARENTS' HOME IN MANILA
WERE...
GENERAL AND MRS. MacARTHUR,
COLONEL AND MRS. EISENHOWER,
AND THE ACTING HIGH
COMMISSIONER.
IN FACT,
EVENINGS WERE JUS AN EXTENSION OF
THE WORKING DAY.
IN MANILA, HAVING FUN WAS
A SERIOUS BUSINESS.
THE FRIEDERS HAD
DEVELOPED A
CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH
PRESIDENT QUEZON OVER THE
YEARS.
THEY MET WHEN
QUEZON WAS IN THE
PHILIPPINE SENATE
AND THEY WERE
YOUNG MEN BUILDING
A BUSINESS.
THE RELATIONSHIP
DEEPENED AS
THE CIGAR BUSINESS GREW
AND QUEZON ROSE
THROUGH THE
POLITICAL RANKS.
IN 1937, PAUL
V. McNUTT WAS
APPOINTED U.S. HIGH
COMMISSIONER FOR THE
PHILIPPINES AND
JOINED THIS
CIRCLE OF
POWERFUL FRIENDS.
THE FORMER GOVERNOR
OF INDIANA,
McNUTT MADE NO
SECRET THAT HE
WAS AIMING FOR
THE WHITE HOUSE
IN 1940, WHICH PROBABLY
ACCOUNTS FOR WHY
PRESIDENT ROOSEVEL BANISHED
HIM TO MANILA.
BUT FOR McNUTT, MORAL
CONVICTION TRUMPED
POLITICAL
AMBITION.
URGED BY JEWISH
ALLIES BACK
HOME, HE CHAMPIONED
EUROPEAN
JEWS DESPITE
ANTI-SEMITISM
AMONG AMERICAN VOTERS.
HE UNDERSTOOD VERY WELL
INTOLERANCE IN AMERICAN LIFE
AND INTOLERANCE
IN AMERICAN POLITICS.
IN THEIR DRIVE TOWARDS
INDEPENDENCE,
THE FILIPINOS
HAD ELECTED A
CONGRESS AND
INAUGURATED A PRESIDENT.
BUT A SEPARATE PHILIPPINE
IMMIGRATION LAW
HAD NOT YE BEEN WRITTEN.
AND IN THIS LEGAL VACUUM,
PAUL McNUTT REALIZED THA APPROVING VISAS
WAS ONE OF THE
VERY FEW POWERS
STILL HELD BY
THE U.S. HIGH
COMMISSIONER,
AND A VISA WAS A POWERFUL
DOCUMENT THA MEANT A JEWISH
FAMILY COULD
ESCAPE FROM NAZI
PERSECUTION.
DESPITE ALL THE
SMILES AT HIS
SWEARING IN, McNUTT'S
RELATIONSHIP WITH QUEZON
WAS COMPLICATED...
UNTIL THEY
DISCOVERED A MUTUAL
PASSION -- POKER.
McNUTT LOVED
POKER SO MUCH
THAT HE EVEN HAD
MONOGRAMMED
MOTHER-OF-PEARL
POKER CHIPS.
THERE WAS ONE TIME WHEN
McNUTT LOST TO HIM.
WHEN McNUTT WAS TRYING TO PAY
HIM, HE SAID, "DON'T PAY ME.
CONSIDER THAT MY CONTRIBUTION TO
YOUR CANDIDACY."
THE GAMES WEN LONG INTO THE
NIGHT.
THE FRIEDERS
WERE REGULARS A THE TABLE AND SO WAS
COLONEL DWIGH EISENHOWER,
A WELL-LIKED
CHIEF-OF-STAFF
FOR GENERAL DOUGLAS
MacARTHUR.
MacARTHUR HAD
BEEN TASKED TO
BUILD A FILIPINO MILITARY
STRONG ENOUGH
TO DETER THE
LOOMING JAPANESE THREAT.
EISENHOWER WAS
A FANTASTIC CARD PLAYER.
HE MANAGED TO PAY FOR ALL OF HIS
EXPENSES AT WEST POINT WITH HIS
POKER EARNINGS, AND HE WENT ON,
ACTUALLY, TO GIVE PROBABLY MY
GRANDMOTHER HER FINEST BIRTHDAY
PRESENTS BASED ON HIS
CARD-PLAYING EARNINGS.
Quezon III: AMERICANS LIKE
MacARTHUR OR EISENHOWER, THEY
MINGLED FREELY AND AS EQUALS
WITH FILIPINOS, AND THE
FILIPINOS DEEPLY APPRECIATED IT.
PRESIDENT QUEZON
ESPECIALLY APPRECIATED
EISENHOWER'S TALENTS.
EISENHOWER WAS AT ONE POIN WRITING SPEECHES FOR MY
GRANDFATHER AND WAS EVEN
GIVEN AN OFFICE IN THE
EXECUTIVE BUILDING IN
THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE.
HIS ANALYTICAL
MIND WENT FAR
BEYOND CARDS.
THE FRIEDERS
IN PARTICULAR
VALUED HIS ABILITY TO
ORGANIZE EVEN THE
LARGEST TASK.
Eisenhower: EISENHOWER
CLEARLY KNEW ABOUT THE IMPENDING
PLANS FOR THE RESCUE, I THINK
THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
MY FATHER WAS TOLD BY MY
GRANDFATHER THAT THESE PLANS
WERE UNDERWAY AND HAD TOLD
HIS SON JOHN -- MY FATHER --
THAT, IN FACT, HE HAD BEEN ASKED
TO PLAY A ROLE IN THIS.
THESE FRIENDS WHO,
ULTIMATELY, OFFERED HIM A JOB
MAKING $60,000 A YEAR --
WHICH IS ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS
IN 2011 MONEY -- TO ASSIS IN THE PLANNING FOR FINDING
HOMES FOR THESE JEWISH REFUGEES
LEAVING GERMANY.
AND IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE TO
TAKE A PROBLEM SUCH AS THIS TO A
MAN LIKE EISENHOWER WHO HAD
THE ABILITY TO PLAN ON A LARGE
SCALE, TO BE ABLE TO TAKE
THOUSANDS OR THOUSANDS AND
THOUSANDS OF MOVING PARTS AND
TRY TO ORIENT THEM AND TO PUSH
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
THE CARD GAMES
WERE HELD IN
MANY PLACES -- ON THE
PRESIDENTIAL YACHT...
MY FATHER PLAYED
POKER WITH HIM ON HIS YACH JUST OUTSIDE MALACANANG PALACE
WHERE HIS YACHT WAS MOORED
ON THE PASSIG RIVER.
IN THE
AIR-CONDITIONED LOBBY
OF THE MANILA HOTEL...
Jose: THE MANILA HOTEL WAS
THE TOPS.
IT WAS A MAJOR CENTER
OF SOCIAL ACTIVITY.
AT THE HOME OF
GREEK-AMERICAN PRIVATE
INVESTIGATOR ANGEL
ZERVOULAKOS.
Woman: THIS KIND OF POKER
WHERE THE FRIEDER BROTHERS COME
TO, THEY COME OUT LOOKING LIKE
THEY'VE SMOKED A LOT OF CIGARS.
[ LAUGHS ]
THEY'D SURE SMELL
LIKE IT, THOUGH.
I DO BELIEVE THAT MY DAD HAD
A PART IN THIS, HELPING
THE FRIEDER BROTHERS.
AND HE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE
DOING.
THESE HIGH-STAKE
GAMES ALSO
TOOK PLACE IN THE COOLING
BREEZE OF THE FRIEDERS'
BACK PORCH.
Jane Ellis: WE COULD HEAR
WHAT WAS GOING ON ON THE PORCH
ALL THE TIME.
WE COULD HEAR WHEN SOMEONE
BROUGHT FOOD OUT TO THEM OR
DRINKS OUT TO THEM.
BUT THEY WERE PLAYING POKER
OUT THERE.
IT WAS AT THESE GAMES
THAT THE FRIENDS
DEVELOPED A
PLAN TO BUILD
UPON THE SUCCESS
OF THE SHANGHAI RESCUE.
IT WAS A CAUSE
CLOSE TO ALL OF
THEM.
McNUTT CALLED
JEWISH REFUGEES
"HELPLESS AND PERSECUTED
WANDERERS WITH
NO PLACE TO LAY
THEIR HEADS."
EISENHOWER WROTE
IN HIS DIARY,
"HITLER'S RECORD
WITH THE JEWS
IS AS BLACK AS
THAT OF ANY
BARBARIAN OF THE
DARK AGES."
TO QUEZON, IT WAS NOT A
QUESTION OF WHETHER
HIS COUNTRY
WOULD HELP, BUT WHY OTHER
NATIONS DID NOT.
FOR THE FRIEDERS,
IT SIMPLY
NEEDED TO BE DONE.
Samuel: THEY FELT BECAUSE
THEY WERE ONE OF THE 50 AMERICAN
JEWISH FAMILIES THERE, THAT THA WAS THE ROLE EVERYBODY HAD TO
PLAY IF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH
TO BE IN THE PHILIPPINES --
TRY AND GET AS MANY OU AS YOU COULD.
THE GOAL WAS TO BRING
THOUSANDS OF
EUROPEAN JEWS
TO THE PHILIPPINES.
BUT EVEN WITH THE LEGAL
AUTHORITY TO
APPROVE VISAS,
PAUL McNUTT KNEW
HE NEEDED TO
BE HOLDING A
PAIR OF POCKE ACES TO DEAL WITH AN
UNSYMPATHETIC
STATE DEPARTMENT.
ONE WAS SUPPORT FROM
PRESIDENT QUEZON.
QUEZON HAD DEAL WITH WAVES OF
IMMIGRANTS BEFORE,
AND HE WAS
ACUTELY AWARE
OF THE VOICES
OF ANTI-SEMITISM
IN HIS OWN
COUNTRY.
BUT QUEZON STOOD STRONG.
EVEN WITH
QUEZON'S SUPPORT,
McNUTT KNEW THEIR
PLAN COULD
STILL BE TORPEDOED
BECAUSE OF
THE REQUIREMENT THAT NO
IMMIGRANT COULD
BECOME A PUBLIC
CHARGE.
IN OTHER WORDS
-- NO MONEY,
NO JOB, NO VISA.
PRESIDENT QUEZON HAD
STIPULATED THAT HE DIDN'T WAN ANYBODY THAT WOULD BE A BURDEN
ON THE ECONOMY.
AND SO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY HAD
TO PROMISE THAT THEY WOULD TAKE
CARE OF THEM, WHICH THEY DID.
AND THAT WAS
McNUTT'S SECOND
ACE -- THE FRIEDERS.
QUEZON AND McNUT TURNED TO THE
FRIEDER BROTHERS
TO WORK OU A SYSTEM SO THA ONLY JEWISH
IMMIGRANTS WITH
THE SKILLS AND
RESOURCES TO
SUPPORT THEMSELVES
WOULD BE SENT VISAS.
AND IF THE REFUGEES
DID ARRIVE
PENNILESS, THE
JEWISH COMMUNITY
WOULD STILL TAKE
CARE OF THEM.
AND SO IT BEGAN.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
PREPARED A
LIST OF OCCUPATIONS
WHERE THEY
THOUGHT A REFUGEE
COULD GE A JOB IN THE
PHILIPPINES --
A LIST THAT COULD
MEAN LIFE OR
DEATH FOR A EUROPEAN JEW.
THEY HAD TO PICK AND CHOOSE
PEOPLE TO LET IN.
AND THERE WERE SO MANY MORE THA WANTED TO COME THAN THEY COULD
FILL JOBS FOR, THAT THEY COULD
SUPPORT WITH THE MONEY
THAT THEY HAD.
AND SO THAT'S
A HEARTBREAKING JOB.
I MEAN, TO BE DOING THE RIGH THING, AND THEN HAVE TO SAY NO
TO PEOPLE 'CAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE
ENOUGH MONEY OR YOU DON'T HAVE
THIS.
AND THAT WAS TOUGH.
Weston: WHEN I CAME HOME FROM
SCHOOL AT NOONTIME, WE WERE
SUPPOSED TO PICK UP MY FATHER
AND COME HOME FOR LUNCH.
BUT HE WAS NEVER READY BECAUSE
HE WAS WORKING ON THE LISTS.
HE ENLISTED THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
IN HELPING THEM GET JOBS.
AND HE HIRED A LOT OF PEOPLE
IN THE FACTORY HIMSELF.
IT WAS ALL-CONSUMING.
Man: THAT'S WHEN THE AD CAME
OUT IN THE MAIN JEWISH PAPER IN
BERLIN, AND IT SAID THAT THERE'S
A PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINES FOR
PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPECIAL SKILLS.
IN A WORLD
WHERE OPTIONS
WERE FAS DISAPPEARING, THERE
WERE FINALLY
ANSWERS TO THE
DESPERATE PLEAS THA ARRIVED EVERY DAY.
THE FRIEDERS AND
OTHERS ON THE
REFUGEE COMMITTEE
CHOSE WHO
WOULD BE APPROVED
FOR A VISA.
THESE LISTS WERE
THEN SENT TO
QUEZON FOR REVIEW,
AND McNUT PASSED THEM TO THE STATE
DEPARTMENT AND
U.S. EMBASSIES
IN EUROPE.
Man: THE UNITED STATES IS
CROSSED OUT, AND IT'S WRITTEN
"PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ONLY."
NOW PLANS
COULD BE MADE.
THEY MELTED DOWN MONEY.
THEY MADE A BRACELET --
EACH OF MY MOTHER AND MY AUNT,
HER SISTER, AND MY GRANDMOTHER
HAD BRACELETS MADE AND NECKLACES
MADE OUT OF GOLD,
AND THAT'S HOW THEY WERE ABLE TO
GET STUFF OUT.
DISASTERS AVERTED.
FOR YOUNG MARTA
MIODOWSKI,
AN ARYAN GIRL MARRIED TO
A JEWISH CIGAR-MAKER,
A PHILIPPINE
VISA WAS THE KEY
THAT RELEASED HER
HUSBAND FROM
THE INFAMOUS
SACHSENHAUSEN
CONCENTRATION CAMP.
Progl: SHE GOT A TAXI.
THOSE CAMPS WERE, OF COURSE,
IN THE WOODS, AND THEY
HAD SENTRIES.
WHEN YOU GOT TO THE SECOND
SENTRY, HE SAID HE WASN'T GOING
FURTHER, BUT MY MOTHER,
YOU DIDN'T SAY NO TO.
WHEN SHE GOT THERE, SHE TOLD
THEM SHE HAD COME TO SEE
THE COMMANDANT.
I HAD BLOND HAIR,
I LOOKED LIKE A REAL
GERMAN WHAT THEY CALL,
A REAL GERMAN GIRL.
SHE WAS AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN,
AND THEY PROBABLY FIGURED,
"OH, OKAY...
HE'S GOT A LITTLE VISITOR."
SHE TOLD THEM SHE WAS COMING TO
GET HER HUSBAND.
NOBODY QUESTIONED ME
YOU KNOW THAT HE WAS JEWISH.
THEY HAD, I GUESS YOU CALL I "ROLL CALL."
AND THEY WERE ALL LINED UP.
AND WHEN THEY CALLED HIS NUMBER,
MY DAD WASN'T GONNA MOVE.
HE FIGURED THAT WAS IT.
SO SHE POINTED HIM OUT.
AND THAT'S -- TOOK HIM BACK IN
THE CAB.
HE HAD THICK, BLACK, WAVY HAIR.
AND...
SHAVED HIS HEAD --
NATURALLY, IN THE CONCENTRATION
CAMP.
AND WHEN MOM BROUGHT HIM,
AND I TOOK ONE LOOK AT HIM,
AND I RAN AWAY -- AND MY FATHER
WAS REAL UPSET.
BUT WHAT I DID IS I CAME BACK
WITH A HAT...
AND I COVERED HIM UP.
I COULD'VE STAYED.
THEY OFFERED IT TO ME.
THEY WOULD ANNUL MY MARRIAGE.
I SAID, I HAVE A DAUGHTER.
AND I ASKED HIM, I SAID...
WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HER?
HE SAID FOR HIM TO TAKE A GUESS,
SHE'S PROBABLY GOING TO END UP
IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP.
AND I SAID, NO THANK YOU.
WE WILL LEAVE.
ALL OF US, YOU KNOW, TOGETHER.
EVEN WITH A
VISA, IT WAS
A TERRIFYING
AND DANGEROUS
JOURNEY TO FREEDOM.
Preiss: THE BORDER POLICE
WOULDN'T LET US IN.
AND SO THEY TOOK US OUT OF THE
TRAIN AND RETURNED US TO FRANCE
ON THE -- AND WE WENT THROUGH
THE TUNNEL, THERE'S A GIAN TUNNEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND ITALY.
AND WE WENT BACK AND FORTH
THROUGH THAT A NUMBER OF TIMES.
THE FRENCH INTERN SAID, "YOUR
VISA EXPIRED."
SO, BANG, THEY PUT US BACK TO GO
TO ITALY.
IN THE MEANTIME, OUR BOAT WAS
LEAVING.
AND MY FATHER WAS DESPERATE.
HE FINALLY BRIBED SOMEBODY
TO GET US AN ESCORT TO THE BOAT.
Ambrunn: ON THE BORDER OF
ITALY AND GERMANY, NAZIS CAME
ONBOARD THE TRAIN,
LOOKED AT THE PASSPORTS, AND
TOOK ONE LOOK AT ME --
WHO WAS A BLONDE, BLUE-EYED.
AND HE SAYS, "THIS CHILD IS NO A JEW.
HE IS A TYPICAL ARYAN.
WE'RE TAKING HIM OFF THE TRAIN."
AND MY PARENTS WERE FORTUNATE
ENOUGH TO CONVINCE THEM THAT I
WAS THEIR CHILD.
MANY OTHER
FAMILIES WERE
TORN APART.
MY GRANDPARENTS CAME --
I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS.
I STILL SEE MY GRANDMOTHER.
UH...
TO THE TRAIN, AND THE
GOODBYE WAS AWFUL --
BECAUSE MY GRANDPARENTS KNEW
THEY MAY NEVER SEE US AGAIN.
AND SO IT WAS A VERY,
VERY EMOTIONAL
AND TEARY GOODBYE.
MORE THAN A
MONTH AFTER
McNUTT HAD BEGUN
HIS MAVERICK
VISA PROCESS, THE STATE
DEPARTMENT CAUGHT ON,
DEMANDING
INFORMATION ABOU HUNDREDS OF JEWS WHO WERE
APPLYING FOR VISAS TO THE
PHILIPPINES.
McNUTT REPLIED
COOLLY THAT MANY
REFUGEES HAD
ALREADY ARRIVED,
AND THEN UPPED
THE ANTE SAYING
THAT A HUNDRED ADDITIONAL
FAMILIES WERE
ON THEIR WAY.
Jane Ellis: McNUTT BUCKED
THE STATE DEPARTMENT.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT WASN' VERY NICE IN THOSE DAYS.
AND I THINK HE GAMBLED HIS
WHOLE POLITICAL CAREER
ON DOING THIS.
Kotlowski: WE'VE GOT TO
REMEMBER WHAT THE TEMPER OF THE
COUNTRY WAS, THE MOOD OF
THE UNITED STATES
AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
YOU HAD AN ANTIPATHY TOWARD MORE
REFUGEES.
YOU HAD INERTIA AND
ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE
STATE DEPARTMENT,
AND YOU HAD A PRESIDENT AND AN
ADMINISTRATION THAT WAS REALLY
ONLY INTERMITTENTLY INTERESTED
IN THE QUESTION.
THE U.S.
SECRETARY OF STATE
POINTEDLY WARNED
THE PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT THA THEY STILL HAD
TO ABIDE BY U.S.
IMMIGRATION
POLICY.
BUT QUEZON AND McNUT STAYED RESOLUTE.
AND WHILE THIS
BUREAUCRATIC
BATTLE RAGED, DESPERATE
PASSENGERS FLEEING
EUROPE ON
THE SSST.
LOUIS WERE DENIED
ENTRY TO CUBA, THE UNITED
STATES, AND CANADA.
THEY WERE FORCED
BACK TO AN
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
IN EUROPE --
A EUROPE WHERE
THE SYSTEMATIC
MURDER OF MILLIONS
BEGAN WITH
THE INVASION OF
POLAND IN 1939.
CONCENTRATION
CAMPS WOULD SOON
TRANSFORM INTO
DEATH CAMPS,
AND THE TRAINS
FILLED WITH
HELPLESS VICTIMS
WOULD BEGIN
TO ROLL.
Man: MANILA'S THIS CITY A THE BOTTOM OF LIKE A U-SHAPED
BAY, MANILA BAY.
AND AT THE END OF THE BAY,
THERE ARE TWO ARMS.
ONE WAS CALLED BATAAN AND THERE
WAS AN ISLAND THERE CALLED
CORREGIDOR, WHICH WAS LIKE THE
CORK IN THE BOTTLE.
ON THE MANILA SIDE, THERE WAS
A BEAUTIFUL DRIVE CALLED
DEWEY BOULEVARD.
AND ON THE SHORE SIDE, THERE
WERE THE MAGNIFICENT HOTELS.
THE FANCY MANILA HOTEL WAS THE
BIG ONE.
BUT ANYBODY COULD WALK ON
DEWEY BOULEVARD,
WATCH THE SUN SET.
AND IF YOU'VE NEVER SEEN
A SUNSET IN THE TROPICS,
IT'S ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.
WE ARRIVED ON HITLER'S
BIRTHDAY -- APRIL 20th --
FIVE DAYS BEFORE MY
13th BIRTHDAY.
Asher: MY AUNT AND UNCLE WERE
THERE TO GREET US, AND THEN I
DON'T REMEMBER EVEN GETTING OFF
THE BOAT.
BUT I DO REMEMBER THAT THEY TOOK
US TO AN APARTMENT THAT WE
SHARED WITH SOMEBODY ELSE --
WITH ANOTHER COUPLE.
Preiss: AND IN MANILA, A MAN
IN A WHITE SHARKSKIN SUIT CAME
ONBOARD AND WELCOMED MY PARENTS.
AND THAT HAPPENED TO BE
MR. ALEX FRIEDER.
Weston: WE HAD AN OPEN HOUSE
FOR THE REFUGEES EVERY
FRIDAY NIGHT.
AND THE TABLE WAS PILED HIGH
WITH FRIED CHICKEN
AND ORCHIDS FROM THE GARDEN.
EVERY FRIEDER
BROTHER KNEW
THAT HE HAD THREE DUTIES
WHEN IT WAS HIS
TURN IN MANILA.
NUMBER ONE WAS TO BE THE
PRESIDENT OF THE SYNAGOG.
NUMBER TWO WAS TO RUN THE
BUSINESS, AND NUMBER THREE WAS
TO GET THE JEWS OUT OF GERMANY.
THEY RAN
MANILA'S JEWISH
REFUGEE COMMUNITY, MAKING
LIFE-AND-DEATH
DECISIONS WITH
JUST THE POWER
OF PERSUASION
AND A REPUTATION
FOR INTEGRITY.
Woman: THE FRIEDERS WOULD SAY
TO MY FATHER, "OH, YOU KNOW,
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE CARE
OF THESE PEOPLE, AND ARE YOU
COMING IN WITH US?"
OR WHATEVER.
PROBABLY OVER A POKER GAME.
AND MY DAD SAID, "OF COURSE!"
YOU KNOW, AND HE WOULD
NATURALLY HELP OUT.
THIS IS THE WAY THEY DID IT,
BY WORD OF MOUTH.
THE EMIGRES,
STRUGGLING TO
EARN A LIVING IN
A STRANGE NEW
LAND, BECAME
QUITE CREATIVE.
Woman: MY MOTHER SUPPLEMENTED
THE INCOME BY TAKING
IN BOARDERS.
AND THE INTERESTING PART ABOU THAT WAS, IN EUROPE, MY MOTHER
NEVER WENT INTO THE KITCHEN
OR COOKED OR ANYTHING BECAUSE
THEY HAD A COOK, THEY HAD
A MAID.
Man: MY FATHER OPENED
A MEAT MARKET AND MY MOM WORKED.
IN FACT, SHE DELIVERED MEA TO HER FRIENDS BY CARRYING
THE BAGS AND WALKING,
MAYBE TWO OR THREE MILES A DAY.
MY FATHER FOUND A JOB ALMOS IMMEDIATELY.
AND MY MOTHER, I DON'T KNOW WHEN
SHE STARTED, BUT SHE WAS
A GOVERNESS TO A SMALL
AMERICAN BOY.
THE HALF-DOZEN
FAMILIES IN
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
WHO COULD
AFFORD IT WERE DONATING A
PORTION OF THEIR
INCOME EVERY
MONTH.
THEIR DONATIONS
WERE AS HIGH AS
$2,500.
THAT WOULD BE ALMOS $40,000 TODAY.
BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH.
BACK IN THE STATES, THE
FRIEDERS CONTINUED
TO RAISE
FUNDS FROM JEWISH REFUGEE
AGENCIES TO SUPPOR THE GROWING
RESCUE OPERATIONS.
IN MANILA, THEY RAN FIVE
COMMUNITY HOUSES
WHERE REFUGEES
WOULD SHARE EXPENSES.
Holzer: AND THERE WERE
A NUMBER OF FAMILIES IN THERE
BEFORE THEY SETTLED ANYWHERE IN
THE CITY WHO WERE LIVING IN,
I THINK IT WAS A LARGE, LARGE
ROOM.
AND WE SLEPT IN A ROOM THAT WAS
DIVIDED UP BY BED SHEETS.
THE PRESSURE BECAME PRETTY
BAD, AND PEOPLE WERE FIGHTING
WITH EACH OTHER.
FIGHTING OVER WHOSE --
THERE WAS A COMMON KITCHEN --
OVER WHOSE STUFF IN THE KITCHEN
HAD BEEN TOUCHED BY WHO AND
WHOSE KID DID THIS TO WHOM?
I REMEMBER THE ADULTS GOT INTO
IT ONE DAY, AND THEY WERE
FIST-FIGHTING, AND THEY WERE
BEATING EACH OTHER UP.
AND I RAN AWAY.
YOU DON'T GET THAT FROM ONE DAY
TO THE NEXT OUT, OF YOUR SYSTEM,
THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN,
YOU'RE A NOBODY.
AND WHILE THIS
NEW LIFE MAY
HAVE BEEN
DIFFICULT FOR THE
ADULTS, FOR THE CHILDREN,
IT WAS AN ADVENTURE.
Wachs: ONE TIME, MY MOTHER
AND MY SISTER AND I WENT HIKING.
AND WE STRAYED A LITTLE BI FAR OUT.
AND THE NATIVES IN THAT AREA
THAT WERE CALLED "IGORATS."
AND WE CAME TO A IGORAT VILLAGE
WHERE ON THE FENCE, ON THE GATE,
THEY HAD A COUPLE OF HEADS.
SO THEY WERE STILL HEADHUNTERS.
WE TURNED AROUND QUICKLY.
HARRY BRAUER, WHO WAS ONE OF
MY DAD'S BEST FRIENDS GROWING
UP, THEY WERE SO CLOSE THA UNCLE HARRY USED TO SLEEP OVER
IN THE PALACE.
I LED THIS STRANGE LIFE,
YOU KNOW.
I LIVED IN A SMALL HOUSE.
MY PARENTS WERE RUNNING
A LITTLE RESTAURANT,
AND EVERY SATURDAY, A
CHAUFFEURED LIMOUSINE CAME AND
PICKED ME UP AND TOOK ME TO
MALACANANG PALACE.
I REMEMBER THE PAPAYA TREES.
THE MARVEL OF THE PAPAYA TREE IS
THAT IT'S A TALL TREE,
BUT IT'S FLAT.
IT'S FLAT, IT'S ANGLED.
SO THE ADVENTURE OF CLIMBING UP
WITH YOUR FRIENDS ON A PAPAYA
TREE, IT WAS FUN.
FOR MANY CHILDREN,
TEMPLE EMIL, THE
ONLY SYNAGOG
IN THE PHILIPPINES,
WAS THE
CENTER OF THEIR LIVES.
Loewenstein: THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY WAS A COHESIVE
COMMUNITY.
AND WE ALL GOT INVOLVED IN A
SYNAGOG AND IN THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY PER SE.
SO WE ALL GOT TO KNOW EACH
OTHER.
Weston: THE CHILDREN OF THE
REFUGEES WERE DOING
A PURIM PLAY.
AND THEY WERE ACTING OUT HOW THE
JEWS WERE TREATED IN PERSIA.
Wachs: WE HAD SOME RATHER
ELABORATE COSTUMES, YOU KNOW,
CONSIDERING IT WASN'T JUS MAKESHIFT STUFF.
AND WE HAD REHEARSALS, AND THEN
WE HAD THE PLAY,
AND IT WAS A BIG THING.
THE ANCIEN STORY OF HOPE IS
IN DIRECT CONTRAS TO GERMAN
TANKS ROLLING INTO
DENMARK AND
NORWAY, HAPPENING
AT ALMOST THE
SAME MOMENT.
AS THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES
SWELLED, PRESIDENT QUEZON
DONATED A PORTION OF HIS
COUNTRY ESTATE FOR
A COMMUNITY HOUSE.
IT WAS NAMED
"MARAKINA HALL."
DOZENS OF REFUGEES
ATTENDED THE
OPENING CEREMONY,
A CELEBRATION FOR
THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MARAKINA HALL WAS ACTUALLY
PROPERTY THAT HE HAD BOUGH THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE NES EGG FOR MY FATHER.
IT WAS GOING TO BE THE LAND THA WOULD MAKE SURE THAT MY FATHER
WOULD HAVE A GOOD LIVING AFTER
HIS FATHER WAS PRESIDENT.
THIS IS WHAT THEY DEVOTED FOR
THE PLACE THAT THE REFUGEES
WOULD STAY IN.
Hershfield: AT THE DEDICATION
OF MARAKINA HALL, THERE WERE
THE SPEECHES, AND THAT WAS
VERY EVIDENT THAT THEY WANTED
10,000 JEWS, QUEZON AND THE
FRIEDERS WERE HELPING,
TO COME TO THE PHILIPPINES.
PRESIDENT QUEZON WAS
SPEAKING OF A
PLAN TO BRING
TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF JEWS TO
ESTABLISH A
FARMING COMMUNITY
ON THE REMOTE ISLAND OF
MINDANAO.
KEEN OBSERVERS
OF WORLD EVENTS,
THE POKER PLAYERS
WERE WELL
AWARE THAT TIME
WAS RUNNING OU FOR EUROPEAN JEWS.
SO THEY ONCE AGAIN UPPED
THE ANTE.
PAUL McNUT INFORMED THE STATE
DEPARTMENT THA QUEZON WAS
WILLING TO TAKE
AS MANY AS
30,000 JEWISH FAMILIES.
ACCORDING TO
PHILLIP FRIEDER,
PRESIDENT QUEZON
WAS IN FAVOR
OF SETTLING AS
MANY REFUGEES AS
POSSIBLE ON MINDANAO,
SAYING HE'D BE HAPPY
IF A MILLION ARRIVED.
Sasser: QUEZON WAS A GOOD
CATHOLIC, AND HE THOUGHT THE
MOST UNRELIGIOUS THING HE
COULD THINK OF WAS TO THINK
BADLY TOWARDS THE PEOPLE
THAT GAVE THEM THEIR SAVIOR.
AND I JUST LOVE THAT QUOTE.
THE REACTION
FROM THE U.S.
STATE DEPARTMEN WAS NEGATIVE.
ONE MEMO SAID
THAT 2,000, NO 30,000, WAS A
MORE REALISTIC
NUMBER AND
WARNED THAT "FEW
MEMBERS OF THE
CAUCASIAN RACE
CAN ENDURE THE
HARDSHIPS OF THE
JUNGLE ISLAND."
IN MANILA, GENERAL
EMILIO AGUINALDO,
QUEZON'S
POLITICAL RIVAL,
GRUMBLED THA "JEWS ARE DANGEROUS
PEOPLE TO
HAVE AROUND IN
LARGE NUMBER."
DESPITE THIS OPPOSITION,
QUEZON KEP PRESSING TO SETTLE
REFUGEES ON MINDANAO,
ALTHOUGH THE
PLAN WAS LOWERED
TO 10,000 FAMILIES AND
STRETCHED OU OVER A PERIOD OF
MANY YEARS.
THE FRIEDERS
NEVER GAVE UP ON
MINDANAO, CONDUCTING LAND
SURVEYS AND
LOBBYING FILIPINO
LAWMAKERS.
ON NOVEMBER 21,
1941, THE FINAL
CONTRACT FOR THE
PURCHASE OF
LAND IN MINDANAO ARRIVED
IN NEW YORK.
THE POKER PLAYERS
HAD BET THE
POT, AND THEY HAD WON.
THOUSANDS MORE
REFUGEES COULD
COME TO THE PHILIPPINES.
BUT CIRCUMSTANCES QUICKLY
CHANGED EVERYTHING.
DAYS LATER, ALL
ATTEMPTS A RESCUE AND
RELOCATION ENDED
AS JAPANESE WAR PLANES
ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR.
WITHIN HOURS,
JAPANESE BOMBERS
ALSO APPEARED
OVER MANILA.
AND THE BOMB
ATTACKS CONTINUED
EVEN AFTER MacARTHUR
PULLED THE
AMERICAN TROOPS
OUT OF MANILA
AND DECLARED I AN OPEN CITY.
IT WAS AN ATTACK
THAT MANY
AMERICANS HAD DREADED.
MY MOTHER KEPT CYANIDE PILLS
IN HER MEDICINE CABINET SO THA IF THE JAPANESE EVER CAPTURED
US, SHE WAS PREPARED TO...
TAKE, AS I SAY, CYANIDE PILLS
AND GIVE THEM TO MY BROTHER
AND MYSELF.
PHILLIP FRIEDER
WANTED TO
STAY AND RUN THE
BUSINESS AND
CARE FOR THE REFUGEES.
IN THE END, PAUL
McNUTT HAD TO
TRICK PHILLIP
INTO LEAVING
BY TELLING HIM
THERE WAS A
FAMILY CRISIS BACK IN
CINCINNATI.
Dick: ON THE BOAT GOING BACK
FROM MANILA TO SAN FRANCISCO, WE
PASSED THE JAPANESE FLEET.
AND I REMEMBER WHEN WE PASSED
THE JAPANESE FLEET, THERE WAS
GREAT TERROR ON THE DECK.
IN A MATTER OF MONTHS,
MacARTHUR AND THE
QUEZON FAMILY
HAD BEEN FORCED
TO EVACUATE
AND MANILA WAS OCCUPIED
BY THE JAPANESE.
IT MARKED THE
BEGINNING OF
YEARS OF PRIVATION,
SUFFERING,
AND DEATH FOR FILIPINOS
AND REFUGEES ALIKE.
WE HAD GONE FROM
THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE.
Owens: IT WAS ABOUT 3:00 OR
4:00 IN THE MORNING, I BELIEVE,
AND THIS GREAT BIG BANG-BANG
ON THE FRONT DOOR.
THEY WERE LITERALLY
TEARING IT DOWN.
AND THEN THEY CAME UPSTAIRS,
AND WE WERE ALL ASLEEP.
AND THEN WAKE UP, THERE'S
BAYONETS LOOKING DOWN AT YOU.
I CAN PICTURE US WALKING DOWN
THE STREET, AND THE SUN WASN' UP YET.
AND IT WAS DARK, AND WE'RE ALL
FOLLOWING MY DAD.
WE COULDN'T EVEN LOOK A ANYTHING THAT WE LEFT BEHIND.
SO WE JUST...
FROM THE BED TO THE STREET.
AND THEY MADE OUR HOME THEIR
OFFICERS' QUARTERS.
THE JAPANESE
CONQUERED THE
REST OF THE PHILIPPINES,
STARVING OUT THE
LAST AMERICAN
MILITARY OUTPOS ON BATAAN
AND CORREGIDOR
AND MARCHING THE SOLDIERS
OFF TO BRUTAL
PRISON CAMPS.
Wachs: WE WERE THERE FOR THE
DEATH MARCH WHEN THE AMERICANS
CAME THROUGH THE STREETS.
WE WERE KIND OF PEERING OUT THE
WINDOW AND IT WAS HORRIBLE.
IT WAS JUST...
PEOPLE DRAGGING ALONG THE
STREET, MARCHING ALONG WITH THE
JAPANESE GUARDS ON EITHER SIDE.
IT WASN'T JUS MILITARY PRISONERS
OF WAR,
CIVILIANS WERE
ALSO ROUNDED UP.
AMERICANS,
BRITONS, AND OTHER
ENEMIES OF JAPAN
WERE INTERNED
WITH LITTLE FOOD
OR MEDICINE.
MY BROTHER AND I USED TO
BRING FOOD.
MY FATHER GAVE IT TO US.
AND WHEN THE JAPANESE WEREN' LOOKING, WE'D THROW IT OVER THE
FENCE SO THEY'D HAVE SOMETHING
TO EAT.
IRONICALLY,
THE JAPANESE
TREATED MANY
JEWISH REFUGEES
AS ALLIES,
ALLOWING THEM TO
RETURN TO THEIR HOMES.
Woman: THE JAPANESE WOULD
LOOK AT MY PARENTS' PASSPORTS
AND SAY, "OH, YOU'RE AUSTRIAN.
OH, THAT MEANS YOU'RE GERMAN."
[ CHUCKLES ]
"THAT MEANS YOU'RE THE GOOD
GUYS."
THEY WEREN'T ANTI-SEMITIC.
THEY SAID, "IF YOU'RE GERMAN,
YOU'RE ON OUR SIDE."
BUT THE
REFUGEES HAD NO
DOUBT WHOSE
SIDE THEY WERE
REALLY ON.
Ambrunn: ONE OF THE STUPIDES THINGS MY BROTHER AND I DID WAS
WE STOLE HAND GRENADES FROM THE
JAPANESE AND GAVE IT TO THE
FILIPINO GUERILLAS.
IF MY PARENTS WOULD HAVE FOUND
OUT, I DON'T THINK
WE'D BE HERE RIGHT NOW.
THE JAPANESE
RULED MANILA
WITH A CRUEL AND
BRUTAL HAND.
IF THEY CAUGHT SOMEBODY
STEALING, THEY'D STRING THEM UP
ON A TREE.
AND EVERY JAPANESE THAT WALKED
BY WOULD KICK OR SLAP OR HI THE PERSON ON THE TREE.
THEY'D BEAT THIS GUY
FOR HOUR AFTER HOUR AFTER HOUR.
AND...
EVENTUALLY, HE DIED.
AFTER ALMOS THREE LONG
YEARS OF JAPANESE
OCCUPATION,
GENERAL MacARTHUR
MADE GOOD
ON HIS PROMISE
TO RETURN AND
LIBERATE THE PHILIPPINES.
Loewenstein: I RECALL, VERY
VIVIDLY AT ONE TIME, ONE OF THE
PURSUIT PLANES WHO WAS FLYING
DOWN QUITE LOW, AND I WAS ON THE
STREET IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.
AND APPARENTLY THE PILOT SAW.
AND HE DID A 360 AND FLEW BACK
AND DROPPED A HERSHEY CANDY BAR
TO ME.
WE SPLIT IT.
YOU KNOW, LIKE, 30 DIFFEREN WAYS.
EVERYBODY GOT A TASTE OF IT.
UH...
YEAH, IT WAS GREAT, BECAUSE I WAS ONE STEP CLOSER TO
LIBERATION, YOU KNOW?
[ GUNS BOOMING ]
BUT THE WAR
WAS NOT OVER.
DESPITE MacARTHUR'S
RETURN,
THE WORST WAS
YET TO COME.
JAPANESE SUPREME
COMMAND ISSUED
ORDERS TO KILL OR BURN
EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH
AS THEY RETREATED
FROM MANILA.
[ AIR-RAID SIREN WAILS ]
Owens: YOU COULD SEE MANILA
BURNING FOR A WHOLE WEEK.
AND IT WAS SO BRIGHT,
AND IT NEVER DIED FOR A WHOLE
WEEK OR SO.
AND THE FIRES WERE JUST BURNING
AND BURNING AND BURNING.
AND WE WERE RIGHT IN
THE MIDDLE OF IT.
THE HORROR
OF BEING CAUGH BETWEEN TWO ARMIES
SEEMED LIKE
IT WOULD GO ON FOREVER.
MY FATHER BROUGHT MY
MOTHER AND ME TO A SAFE PLACE.
HE WENT BACK INTO THE HOUSE, GO A FEW MORE THINGS, AND WHEN HE
CAME OUT, THE JAPANESE SAW HIM,
AND THEY KILLED HIM --
THEY BAYONETED HIM.
IT WAS PRETTY BAD.
Loewenstein: AND WE SAW THE
JAPANESE GO INTO A HOUSE
NEXT TO US.
THERE WAS A FAMILY IN THERE,
AND...
THEY HAD A BABY.
AND THE JAPANESE THREW THE BABY
UP AND CAUGHT IT WITH A BAYONET.
WE WERE LINED UP AGAINS THE WALL.
AND THEY STARTED TO LOAD
THEIR RIFLES.
AND THEY WERE GONNA SHOOT US
ON A FIRING SQUAD.
AND WE BEGGED FOR OUR LIVES.
RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOUSE,
IN THE BACK OF OUR HOUSE,
A HOUSE HAD BURNED A DAY
OR TWO BEFORE.
THE HOUSES HAD CORRUGATED ROOFS.
SO WE WENT UNDER THE CORRUGATED
ROOF TO LIE DOWN.
AND, UNFORTUNATELY, RIGHT NEX TO ME WAS A WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN
BAYONETED AND WAS DEAD.
IT WAS...
HER WHOLE BODY EXPOSED BECAUSE
SHE'D BEEN BAYONETED.
AND WE LAY THERE FOR TWO DAYS.
ALL AROUND US, THERE WERE
OTHER PEOPLE IN FOXHOLES.
AND THE LOUDER THE BOMBING,
THE LOUDER THE PRAYING.
Farquhar: I WAS THIS LITTLE
BABY, AND I WAS CRYING.
AND THEY WERE STUFFING
HANDKERCHIEFS IN MY MOUTH
TO "SHUT THE BABY UP,
SHUT THE BABY UP!"
SO WITHIN A TWO-WEEK PERIOD
OF THE LIBERATION, OVER 100,000
CIVILIANS WERE KILLED
INDISCRIMINATELY.
THEY DIDN'T CARE IF THEY WERE
JEWS, THEY DIDN'T CARE IF THEY
WERE FILIPINOS -- THEY DIDN' CARE WHO THEY WERE.
IN THE FOG
OF WAR, IT WAS
HARD TO TELL
FRIEND FROM FOE.
Farquhar: THEY HEARD
FOOTSTEPS CLOSE TO THE FOXHOLE
STOPPING RIGHT AT THE EDGE.
AND THEY SAID, "WE'RE DOOMED.
THEY FOUND US.
THIS IS IT.
THE BABY GAVE US AWAY."
[ CHUCKLES ]
"WE'RE DEAD."
AND THE NEXT THING THEY HEARD
WAS, "ANYONE WAN A CHESTERFIELD?"
THE GUY SLID DOWN.
HE HAD HIS RIFLE.
HE WAS LOOKING ALL AROUND.
IT WAS, I DON'T KNOW,
20, 30 PEOPLE IN THERE.
AND IT TURNS OUT WHEN HE CAME
DOWN, HIS HELMET FLEW OFF
AND HE WAS BLONDE AND BLUE-EYED.
AND WE GRABBED HIM,
AND WE KISSED HIM.
AND HE SAID TO US,
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE.
I GOT A WAR TO FIGHT.
LET ME GO!"
FINALLY, THE WAR
WAS REALLY OVER.
WE WENT THROUGH SOME VERY HARD
TIMES THERE, IN THE PHILIPPINES.
IT WAS NO PICNIC THERE.
BUT AS YOU SEE, WE SURVIVED.
REFUGEES AND MANY OF
THE JEWISH
SOLDIERS WHO HAD
RESCUED THEM GATHERED A THE SAN LAZARO RACETRACK
FOR THE FIRST NIGH OF PASSOVER.
Lipetz: IT WAS
A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE.
IT BROUGHT TO MIND AT THAT TIME
THAT WE WERE REALLY FREE.
THE BOY WHO ASKED THE
FOUR QUESTIONS
- WAS 10-
- YEAR-OLD
GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
WHEN YOU LOOK OVER
THE VASTNESS OF ALL THESE
SOLDIERS IN THE STANDS,
IT WAS AWESOME.
IT'S ALSO GREAT SEEING
THE AMERICAN FLAG FLYING AGAIN,
RATHER THAN THE RISING SUN,
THE RED BALL AGAINS THE WHITE BACKGROUND.
SO, THAT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE
TO SEE THE STARS AND STRIPES.
STILL IS IMPRESSIVE.
BY SEPTEMBER 1945,
JAPAN HAD SURRENDERED AND
THOUSANDS GATHERED
IN MANILA
TO CELEBRATE THE
HIGH HOLIDAYS.
AMERICAN GIs REBUIL TEMPLE EMIL,
WHICH HAD BEEN
DESTROYED BY
THE JAPANESE.
FITTINGLY, THE
FUNDRAISING FOR
THE NEW TEMPLE
BEGAN WITH A
CEREMONY ON
NOVEMBER 9, 1945 --
THE ANNIVERSARY OF
KRISTALLNACHT.
THE POKER PLAYERS
QUIETLY MOVED
ON, BUT THEY
REMAINED FOREVER
LINKED TO THE
LIVES OF OVER
1,300 JEWISH REFUGEES.
THE FRIEDER'S
CIGAR FACTORIES
HAD BEEN LEVELED AND THE
FRIEDER BROTHERS
BEGAN THE TASK
OF REBUILDING THE FAMILY
BUSINESS BACK
IN THE STATES.
PAUL McNUT RETURNED TO MANILA
AND LOWERED THE
AMERICAN FLAG
ON THE DAY THE
PHILIPPINES
GAINED INDEPENDENCE.
DWIGHT EISENHOWER
-- NOW THE
SUPREME COMMANDER
OF NATO --
MADE A LOW-KEY INSPECTION
TO THE RUINS OF
THE CITY WHERE
HE HAD SPEN SO MANY YEARS.
MANUEL QUEZON
DIED IN EXILE
IN THE UNITED STATES.
HE NEVER GOT TO SEE THE
PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE,
WHICH HE HAD FOUGH SO HARD FOR,
BUT HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
LIVE ON.
Jose: MOST FILIPINOS
ARE FAMILIAR WITH
"SCHINDLER'S LIST."
VERY FEW FILIPINOS KNOW THA QUEZON WAS, IN HIS OWN WAY,
A KIND OF SCHINDLER.
AND IT HAS COME OUT,
AND I THINK PEOPLE HAVE
BEEN PROUD OF THAT.
THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE.
THERE WERE PEOPLE
THAT WERE SAVED.
YOU HAVE TO GIVE THANKS
FOR THOSE PEOPLE.
WHAT THE FRIEDERS CREATED
AN OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE.
BUT AN OPPORTUNITY ALSO TO
LIVE AND TO DEVELOP AND CREATE
A NEW FUTURE FOR SO MANY.
IT'S ONE THING TO
SIT AROUND A CARD TABLE
AND TALK ABOUT A WORRISOME
SITUATION, EVEN A DIRE
SITUATION.
IT'S QUITE ANOTHER TO ACTUALLY
TAKE SOME ACTION.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHY THIS IS
A STORY FOR ALL TIME.
IT WOULD BE MUCH SIMPLER TO
UNDERSTAND, "OKAY, THE FRIEDERS
SOMEHOW PUT UP MONEY AND FIGURED
OUT A WAY TO GET VISAS
AND DID IT."
OR SIMPLER TO UNDERSTAND QUEZON
SOMEHOW ACTING ON HIS OWN,
HAVING THIS EPIPHANY OF HELPING
SOMEBODY, AND, YOU KNOW,
DOING IT.
BUT THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, HE
AS A CATHOLIC, AND McNUTT AS A
PROTESTANT, AND THE FRIEDERS AS
JEWS COME TOGETHER, MAKE IT EVEN
MORE RICH AND INTERESTING
AND INCREDIBLE THAT IT HAPPENED.
IN THAT HISTORICAL MOMEN THEY WERE HEROES,
BUT THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY SEE
THEMSELVES AS HEROES.
THEY WERE -- IT LOOKS LIKE
THEY WERE JUST DOING THE
RIGHT THING, AND THEY RESPONDED
TO A CRISIS IN THE RIGHT WAY,
REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THA IT WASN'T NECESSARILY GREA FOR THEIR CAREERS AS A PRESIDEN OR AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
MILITARY -- OR EVEN FOR
A CAREER AS A CIGAR-MAKER.
SOMEBODY HAS TO TAKE A RISK.
SOMEBODY HAS TO PUT THEIR VALUES
ON THE LINE AND SAY,
"WE'RE GOING TO DO IT."
Asher: TO ME, HITLER LOS TWO WARS.
HE LOST THE REGULAR WAR,
AND HE LOST THE WAR
AGAINST THE JEWS.
AT THE OPEN
DOORS MONUMEN IN ISRAEL ARE
WRITTEN THE WORDS
OF PRESIDEN MANUEL QUEZON.
"IT IS MY HOPE,
AND INDEED
MY EXPECTATION,
THAT THE PEOPLE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
WILL HAVE
IN THE FUTURE
EVERY REASON TO
BE GLAD THA WHEN THE TIME OF
NEED CAME, THEIR
COUNTRY WAS
WILLING TO EXTEND
A HAND OF WELCOME."
Man: I REMEMBER THE GERMANS
CAME.
THE MOB WAS SCREAMING BLOODY
MURDER.
"KILL THE JEWS."
WE WERE HIDING IN THE CELLAR.
THEY...
BROKE INTO THE STORE
AND WERE LOOTING.
WE WENT DOWNSTAIRS AFTER THEY
LEFT, AND THERE WAS NOTHING
LEFT.
I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES TO
THIS DAY.
WE APPARENTLY GOT A LETTER
THAT SAID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE
GERMANY.
WE WERE THE LAST TRAIN
OUT OF BERLIN.
[ SPEAKING GERMAN ]
"WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US?"
Narrator: THE
BEST HOPE FOR
JEWS WAS ESCAPE.
MOST OF THE WORLD
CLOSED ITS
DOORS, BUT ONE FLEDGLING
NATION, THE PHILIPPINES,
DID NOT.
IN THIS TROPICAL PARADISE
THOUSANDS OF MILES
FROM EUROPE,
AN UNLIKELY
GROUP OF POKER
PLAYERS WERE
PLANNING A RESCUE.
THESE POKER PLAYERS WERE
MANUEL QUEZON,
THE COUNTRY'S
NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT;
PAUL McNUTT, U.S.
HIGH COMMISSIONER TO
THE PHILIPPINES;
AN AMBITIOUS ARMY
COLONEL NAMED
DWIGHT EISENHOWER;
AND FIVE
CIGAR MAKERS FROM
CINCINNATI --
THE FRIEDER BROTHERS.
THEY HAD A PLAN,
A PLAN THA WOULD SAVE MORE
THAN 1,300 JEWS FROM NAZI
DEATH CAMPS.
A PLAN FOR A
"RESCUE IN THE
PHILIPPINES."
[ GLASS SHATTERS ]
Woman: HOW COULD ANYBODY HAVE
KNOWN THAT IT WOULD GET TO BE
WHAT IT DID?
HOW COULD ANYBODY HAVE IMAGINED?
THAT A WHOLE NATION WOULD CLOSE
ITS EYES AND EARS?
AND YET, YOU KNOW WHAT?
I THINK IT COULD HAPPEN
ANYWHERE AGAIN.
[ HITLER SPEAKING GERMAN ]
BEGINNING IN 1933,
ADOLF HITLER AND
HIS NAZI THUGS
STEADILY
TRANSFORMED FIRS GERMANY, THEN
MUCH OF EUROPE,
INTO A LIVING NIGHTMARE
FOR JEWS.
Woman: THEN IN 1935, THE
NUREMBERG LAWS CAME OUT, WHICH
STRIPPED JEWS OF CITIZENSHIP.
ALL OF THEIR RIGHTS WERE SLOWLY
BEING STRIPPED AWAY.
JEWS WERE NO
LONGER GERMANS,
EVEN IF THEY HAD FOUGH AND BLED FOR
THEIR COUNTRY
IN PREVIOUS WARS.
MY DAD TOOK ALL HIS MEDALS,
WHICH HAD BEEN FRAMED,
AND TOOK THEM OUTSIDE AND THREW
THEM INTO THE PYRE.
JEWISH HOMES
WERE INVADED.
Woman: I WAS IN
THE CRIB STILL AND...
THE S.S. CAME.
I GUESS I WAS TAKING A NAP.
AND I WOKE UP, AND MY EYE-LEVEL
WAS THEIR BOOTS, THESE SHINY,
SHINY BOOTS.
AND I REMEMBER SCREAMING
MY HEAD OFF.
NAZI PROPAGANDA
PRESENTED
JEWS AS TRAITORS,
KILLERS,
MONSTERS.
Man: KIDS CAME AND THREW
STONES AT ME AND CALLED ME
"DIRTY JEW."
AND WORS OF ALL, THEIR
LOVED ONES COULD
BE TAKEN A ANY MOMENT.
Man: THE NAZIS CAME IN,
KNOCKED ON THE DOOR, TOOK MY
FATHER OUT AND PUT HIM
INTO DACHAU.
THE VIOLENCE PEAKED IN
NOVEMBER 1938
WITH A HIGHLY
ORGANIZED ORGY
OF DESTRUCTION
AND TERROR.
IT WAS
CALLED KRISTALLNACH BECAUSE THE
GLASS FROM THE
BROKEN WINDOWS
GLITTERED IN
THE STREET LIKE CRYSTAL.
- Man:
- KRISTALLNACHT ARRIVED
AND THE S.S. GROUP, S.R. MEN,
CAME TO OUR HOUSE, CAME THROUGH
THE DOOR...
WENT TO THE BATHROOMS AND INTO
THE LIVING ROOM,
DESTROYED EVERYTHING.
Hershfield: FOUR OF THEM CAME
IN WITH THE DOGS.
AND I WAS TERRIBLY FRIGHTENED.
I WAS TERRIBLY FRIGHTENED THA THEY WOULD TAKE MY DOLLS.
I REMEMBER WHEN THEY
BURNED THE TEMPLE.
IT WAS ABLAZE
AND SURROUNDED BY THE GERMAN
FIRE DEPARTMENT, WHICH MADE SURE
THAT NONE OF THE NON-JEWISH
HOMES WERE GOING TO BE BURNED.
Man: I WAS ASLEEP WHEN
THE S.S...
KNOCKED ON THE DOOR.
AND IN ORDER TO GET OUT,
I WENT BACK INTO MY ROOM,
DRESSED IN THE OLDEST CLOTHES
I HAD, TOOK A STICK,
AND WENT DOWN THE STAIRS
INTO THE HALL WHERE THE MOB WAS
SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER.
AND I TOOK THAT STICK AND BROKE
A FEW, I THINK IT WAS PAINTINGS
OR MIRRORS, MYSELF UNTIL I GO TO THE OUT -- TO THE OUTSIDE.
THAT NIGHT, MY GRANDMOTHER
AND I WERE ALL BY OURSELVES.
AND, SUDDENLY, STONES CRASHED
THROUGH OUR WINDOWS.
THEN I KNEW THAT THEY WERE
AFTER US.
WE WERE HUNTED.
WHEN KRISTALLNACHT WAS
OVER,
MORE THAN A
HUNDRED SYNAGOGS
HAD BURNED.
THOUSANDS OF
JEWISH BUSINESSES
WERE DESTROYED,
AND TENS OF
THOUSANDS OF
JEWS WERE FORCED
INTO CONCENTRATION
CAMPS...
ALL IN THE PASSAGE OF
JUST ONE NIGHT.
DIPLOMATS HELD MEETINGS,
MADE SPEECHES, AND PASSED
RESOLUTIONS...
BUT LITTLE, IF
ANYTHING, WAS
DONE.
Man: EUROPEAN JEWRY IS
REALLY GROUND TO DUST BETWEEN
TWO BIG MILLSTONES.
ONE IS
THE HATEFUL BESTIALITY OF NAZI
GERMANY, AND THE OTHER IS THE
APATHY OF THE GOVERNMENTS
OF THE WORLD.
IN ONE COUNTRY
HALF A WORLD
AWAY, AN ESCAPE
PLAN TO PROVIDE
REFUGE FOR JEWS
WAS ALREADY
UNDERWAY.
6,000 MILES FROM
BERLIN, THE
PHILIPPINES WAS
A COUNTRY MOS EUROPEANS KNEW ONLY FROM
POSTCARDS.
MUCH LIKE THE MOVIE
"CASABLANCA,"
PEOPLE LIVED BY
THEIR OWN RULES.
MOTORCARS SHARED
THE ROADS
WITH HORSE-DRAWN
"CARAMATAS."
COCA-COLA COEXISTED WITH
CARABAOS.
AND AT THE LEGENDARY
MANILA HOTEL,
THE ELITE COULD
SIT AND SHARE A DRINK IN
AIR-CONDITIONED COMFORT.
FOR CENTURIES, MANILA HAD
WELCOMED REFUGEES.
Man: IT WAS REALLY
A FANTASTIC MIX OF
DIFFERENT PEOPLES --
CZECHS, POLES, LATVIANS,
LEBANESE, MIDDLE EAST --
PEOPLE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST,
INDIANS.
IT WAS A MIXTURE.
AND I THINK THAT WAS ONE THING
THAT MADE MANILA SUCH A
COSMOPOLITAN CENTER -- BECAUSE
OF ALL THESE PEOPLE COMING AND
GOING, TRADING, STAYING,
MIXING, INTERMARRYING.
THE PHILIPPINES
WAS ONCE
A U.S. COLONY.
BUT IN 1935,
PRESIDENT FRANKLIN
ROOSEVEL SIGNED A LAW MAKING IT A
SEMI-INDEPENDEN COMMONWEALTH,
PROMISING COMPLETE
INDEPENDENCE
IN 10 YEARS.
SEOR QUEZON,
I CONGRATULATE YOU.
ALL OF YOU.
MR. PRESIDENT, I WANT TO
EXPRESS TO YOU THE...
PRESIDEN MANUEL QUEZON WAS
DETERMINED HIS
COUNTRY WOULD
TAKE ITS PLACE
AMONG THE GREA NATIONS OF THE WORLD.
MANUEL LUIS QUEZON WAS A
COMPLEX PERSON
WHO MADE A DEEP
AND LASTING
IMPRESSION ON HIS
COUNTRY.
BORN POOR, HE
MOVED INTO THE
WORLD OF WEALTH
AND POWER WITH
EASY BRAVADO.
Man: HE HAD THE TOTAL
SELF-ASSURANCE THAT HE WAS
THE EQUAL OF ANYONE HE FACED.
THERE IS A FILIPINO CONCEP THAT WE CALL THE COLONIAL
MENTALITY, THIS IDEA THAT YOU'RE
INFERIOR, THAT YOU'RE NEVER
QUITE AS GOOD.
HE NEVER HAD THAT PROBLEM.
Woman: HE WAS A SNAPPY
DRESSER, YOU KNOW, BUT HE LOVED
TO DANCE AND HE LOVED
TO PARTY, TOO.
ONE WRITER
SAID, "HE IS FULL
OF NERVE AND NERVES.
HE IS ONE OF THE
WORLD'S BES BALLROOM DANCERS,
ALSO ONE OF
THE WORLD'S SUBTLEST AND
HARDEST-BOILED
POLITICIANS.
HE LOVES CARDS
AND ALCOHOL,
AND HE LOVES
HIS COUNTRY."
MANUEL QUEZON ALSO LOVED
THE UNDERDOG.
Quezon III: A MAN LIKE
QUEZON, WHO HIMSELF HAD BEEN
A PRISONER, WHO HAD GOTTEN
MALARIA IN THE FIELD, WOULD HAVE
KNOWN WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ON
THE RUN, TO HAVE NO OPTIONS...
TO...
A MAN WORKING FOR THE FREEDOM OF
HIS COUNTRY WOULD CERTAINLY KNOW
WHAT IT'S LIKE WHEN SOMEONE
COMES KNOCKING AT YOUR DOOR AND
SAYS, "WE WANT TO BE FREE."
FDR: I HAVE BEEN COMPELLED
TO CONTRAST OUR PEACE...
WHILE THOUSANDS
MARCHED IN
THE UNITED STATES
TO PROTES THE HORRORS
OF KRISTALLNACHT,
IN THE PHILIPPINES,
MANUEL QUEZON HAD
ALREADY GONE
BEYOND PROTEST TO ACTION,
PROCLAIMING THAT BARRING
REFUGEES WAS
SIMPLY NOT RIGHT.
Woman: OTHER COUNTRIES,
PERHAPS, DID NOT THINK IT THA IMPORTANT.
I DON'T PRESUME TO SAY.
BUT I KNOW THAT DAD...
HAD THE MORAL COURAGE TO DO I BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IN THE
SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
AND THE RIGHT OF PEOPLE TO LIVE
LIFE AS THEY BELIEVED
THEY SHOULD.
IN 1937, A YEAR BEFORE
KRISTALLNACHT,JAPAN'S
BRUTAL
CONQUEST OF CHINA
HAD REACHED
THE CITY OF SHANGHAI,
WHERE REFUGEES
HAD ALREADY
FOUND SHELTER.
EUROPEAN CITIZENS WERE IN
DANGER, SO THE GERMAN
GOVERNMENT HAD
SENT AN OCEAN
LINER TO EVACUATE
PEOPLE FROM
THE BATTERED CITY.
THE NAZIS IN
SHANGHAI ALSO
EVACUATED ANY
JEWISH REFUGEES
WHO FELT IN DANGER.
Woman: THE SITUATION LED TO
GERMAN JEWS AND GERMAN CITIZENS
BEING BROUGHT DOWN TO MANILA.
WHEN THE
JEWISH REFUGEES
REACHED MANILA, THEY WERE
GREETED BY
PHILLIP FRIEDER,
WHO, IN A MATTER
OF HOURS, HAD
RAISED THOUSANDS
OF DOLLARS
FOR THEIR SUPPORT.
IRONICALLY, I WAS A GERMAN
CONSUL WHO SUGGESTED TO
FRIEDER THAT I MIGHT BE A GOOD
IDEA IF HE TOOK
CARE OF THE
JEWISH PASSENGERS.
THERE WERE ONLY
A HANDFUL OF
JEWISH FAMILIES WHO COULD
AFFORD TO CONTRIBUTE TO A
REFUGEE FUND,
BUT THE FRIEDER
BROTHERS TOOK ON
THE TASK ANYWAY.
NUMBER ONE, THEY WERE
ABLE TO.
THEY WERE IN A POSITION WHERE
THEY COULD TALK TO THE RIGH PEOPLE.
NUMBER TWO, THEY SAW WHAT WAS
HAPPENING, AND THEY KNEW THA SOMEBODY HAD TO DO SOMETHING,
SO THEY DID.
IN THE MEANTIME, HIS
BROTHERS BACK
IN CINCINNATI
CONTACTED MAJOR REFUGEE
ORGANIZATIONS
FOR DESPERATELY
NEEDED FUNDS.
Woman: THE FRIEDER BROTHERS
WORKED AS A UNIT.
WHILE UNCLE ALEX WAS IN THE
PHILIPPINES, MY GRANDFATHER
MORRIS FRIEDER WAS IN
WASHINGTON, AND PHILLIP WAS
INVOLVED IN ALL PIECES.
Man: ATHLETES, SCHOLARS,
MOVIE STARS
THEY ALL APPRECIATE
A FINE CIGAR
RICH AROMA...
HUNGARIAN IMMIGRAN SAMUEL FRIEDER
BEGAN AN EMPIRE
BY SELLING CIGARS
OUT OF HIS
NEW YORK CITY HOME BEFORE
WORLD WAR I.
EVENTUALLY, ALL
FIVE OF HIS
SONS -- PHILLIP,
HENRY, ALEX,
MORRIS, AND HERBERT --
WERE IN THE BUSINESS.
CIGARS WERE BIG.
THE FRIEDERS
SPECIALIZED IN
TWO-FOR-A-NICKEL CIGARS.
AND SINCE THE
BEST OF THOSE
WERE MADE FROM
PHILIPPINE TOBACCO,
THEY WENT RIGH TO THE SOURCE.
Man: PHILLIP, AT AGE MAYBE
32 OR 34, GETS ON A BOAT.
IT TAKES HIM THREE AND A HALF
WEEKS TO GET TO THE PHILIPPINES,
AND THE REST IS HISTORY BECAUSE
WHEN HE'S THERE, HE MEETS ALL
THE GROWERS AND
THE MANUFACTURERS, AND THEY
START BUYING CIGARS
FROM THEM DIRECTLY.
AND THEN THEY FIGURE OUT THAT I PROBABLY WOULD BE MORE
ADVANTAGEOUS TO THEM IF THEY
COULD DO THE MANUFACTURING.
WELL, I THINK WHEN THEY FIRS GOT TO THE PHILIPPINES, THERE
WERE, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY
AMERICANS WERE THERE.
I DON'T THINK THERE WERE
30 JEWISH FAMILIES THERE.
IN LESS THAN 20 YEARS,
S. FRIEDER &
SONS HAD BECOME
ONE OF THE BIGGES EXPORTERS OF
PHILIPPINE CIGARS,
PRODUCING
250 MILLION STOGIES
EVERY YEAR.
THIS PHENOMENAL
SUCCESS WAS THE
RESULT OF HARD
WORK AND STRONG
FAMILY TIES.
Peggy Ellis: THEY WERE HAPPY,
FAMILY-LOVING, LIFE-EMBRACING
CHARACTERS.
THEY WERE LEADERS IN THEIR
COMMUNITY, SO THEY SEEMED TO
SLIP SEAMLESSLY INTO BEING
LEADERS IN THE PHILIPPINES.
BACK IN CINCINNATI,
THE FRIEDERS ALL
LIVED ON THE
SAME BLOCK.
THEY TOOK TURNS
OVERSEEING THE
BUSINESS IN THE
PHILIPPINES,
AND AS EACH BROTHER
BROUGHT HIS
FAMILY FOR A
TWO-YEAR TOUR OF
DUTY IN MANILA,
THEY SHARED
THE BIG HOUSE ON
BRIXTON HILL ROAD.
Woman: WE HAD A NICE YARD.
BEAUTIFUL TREES AND ORCHIDS
AROUND THE PERIMETER.
SWIMMING POOL, TENNIS COURT.
WE BELONGED TO A LOT OF CLUBS.
IT WAS A VERY GRACIOUS LIFE.
WHILE THE
CHILDREN SWAM AND
PLAYED, RODE
PONIES, AND HAD
IMPROMPTU DANCE RECITALS,
THE ADULTS MOVED WITHIN
MANILA'S
GLITTERING SOCIAL
WORLD.
Sasser: MY GRANDMOTHER KEP A BOOKLET OF ENTERTAINING
THAT SHE WOULD DO REGULARLY,
AND THERE IS AN ENTRY FROM
SEPTEMBER OF 1939.
AND THE PEOPLE ATTENDING THIS
DINNER PARTY AT MY
GRANDPARENTS' HOME IN MANILA
WERE...
GENERAL AND MRS. MacARTHUR,
COLONEL AND MRS. EISENHOWER,
AND THE ACTING HIGH
COMMISSIONER.
IN FACT,
EVENINGS WERE JUS AN EXTENSION OF
THE WORKING DAY.
IN MANILA, HAVING FUN WAS
A SERIOUS BUSINESS.
THE FRIEDERS HAD
DEVELOPED A
CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH
PRESIDENT QUEZON OVER THE
YEARS.
THEY MET WHEN
QUEZON WAS IN THE
PHILIPPINE SENATE
AND THEY WERE
YOUNG MEN BUILDING
A BUSINESS.
THE RELATIONSHIP
DEEPENED AS
THE CIGAR BUSINESS GREW
AND QUEZON ROSE
THROUGH THE
POLITICAL RANKS.
IN 1937, PAUL
V. McNUTT WAS
APPOINTED U.S. HIGH
COMMISSIONER FOR THE
PHILIPPINES AND
JOINED THIS
CIRCLE OF
POWERFUL FRIENDS.
THE FORMER GOVERNOR
OF INDIANA,
McNUTT MADE NO
SECRET THAT HE
WAS AIMING FOR
THE WHITE HOUSE
IN 1940, WHICH PROBABLY
ACCOUNTS FOR WHY
PRESIDENT ROOSEVEL BANISHED
HIM TO MANILA.
BUT FOR McNUTT, MORAL
CONVICTION TRUMPED
POLITICAL
AMBITION.
URGED BY JEWISH
ALLIES BACK
HOME, HE CHAMPIONED
EUROPEAN
JEWS DESPITE
ANTI-SEMITISM
AMONG AMERICAN VOTERS.
HE UNDERSTOOD VERY WELL
INTOLERANCE IN AMERICAN LIFE
AND INTOLERANCE
IN AMERICAN POLITICS.
IN THEIR DRIVE TOWARDS
INDEPENDENCE,
THE FILIPINOS
HAD ELECTED A
CONGRESS AND
INAUGURATED A PRESIDENT.
BUT A SEPARATE PHILIPPINE
IMMIGRATION LAW
HAD NOT YE BEEN WRITTEN.
AND IN THIS LEGAL VACUUM,
PAUL McNUTT REALIZED THA APPROVING VISAS
WAS ONE OF THE
VERY FEW POWERS
STILL HELD BY
THE U.S. HIGH
COMMISSIONER,
AND A VISA WAS A POWERFUL
DOCUMENT THA MEANT A JEWISH
FAMILY COULD
ESCAPE FROM NAZI
PERSECUTION.
DESPITE ALL THE
SMILES AT HIS
SWEARING IN, McNUTT'S
RELATIONSHIP WITH QUEZON
WAS COMPLICATED...
UNTIL THEY
DISCOVERED A MUTUAL
PASSION -- POKER.
McNUTT LOVED
POKER SO MUCH
THAT HE EVEN HAD
MONOGRAMMED
MOTHER-OF-PEARL
POKER CHIPS.
THERE WAS ONE TIME WHEN
McNUTT LOST TO HIM.
WHEN McNUTT WAS TRYING TO PAY
HIM, HE SAID, "DON'T PAY ME.
CONSIDER THAT MY CONTRIBUTION TO
YOUR CANDIDACY."
THE GAMES WEN LONG INTO THE
NIGHT.
THE FRIEDERS
WERE REGULARS A THE TABLE AND SO WAS
COLONEL DWIGH EISENHOWER,
A WELL-LIKED
CHIEF-OF-STAFF
FOR GENERAL DOUGLAS
MacARTHUR.
MacARTHUR HAD
BEEN TASKED TO
BUILD A FILIPINO MILITARY
STRONG ENOUGH
TO DETER THE
LOOMING JAPANESE THREAT.
EISENHOWER WAS
A FANTASTIC CARD PLAYER.
HE MANAGED TO PAY FOR ALL OF HIS
EXPENSES AT WEST POINT WITH HIS
POKER EARNINGS, AND HE WENT ON,
ACTUALLY, TO GIVE PROBABLY MY
GRANDMOTHER HER FINEST BIRTHDAY
PRESENTS BASED ON HIS
CARD-PLAYING EARNINGS.
Quezon III: AMERICANS LIKE
MacARTHUR OR EISENHOWER, THEY
MINGLED FREELY AND AS EQUALS
WITH FILIPINOS, AND THE
FILIPINOS DEEPLY APPRECIATED IT.
PRESIDENT QUEZON
ESPECIALLY APPRECIATED
EISENHOWER'S TALENTS.
EISENHOWER WAS AT ONE POIN WRITING SPEECHES FOR MY
GRANDFATHER AND WAS EVEN
GIVEN AN OFFICE IN THE
EXECUTIVE BUILDING IN
THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE.
HIS ANALYTICAL
MIND WENT FAR
BEYOND CARDS.
THE FRIEDERS
IN PARTICULAR
VALUED HIS ABILITY TO
ORGANIZE EVEN THE
LARGEST TASK.
Eisenhower: EISENHOWER
CLEARLY KNEW ABOUT THE IMPENDING
PLANS FOR THE RESCUE, I THINK
THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
MY FATHER WAS TOLD BY MY
GRANDFATHER THAT THESE PLANS
WERE UNDERWAY AND HAD TOLD
HIS SON JOHN -- MY FATHER --
THAT, IN FACT, HE HAD BEEN ASKED
TO PLAY A ROLE IN THIS.
THESE FRIENDS WHO,
ULTIMATELY, OFFERED HIM A JOB
MAKING $60,000 A YEAR --
WHICH IS ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS
IN 2011 MONEY -- TO ASSIS IN THE PLANNING FOR FINDING
HOMES FOR THESE JEWISH REFUGEES
LEAVING GERMANY.
AND IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE TO
TAKE A PROBLEM SUCH AS THIS TO A
MAN LIKE EISENHOWER WHO HAD
THE ABILITY TO PLAN ON A LARGE
SCALE, TO BE ABLE TO TAKE
THOUSANDS OR THOUSANDS AND
THOUSANDS OF MOVING PARTS AND
TRY TO ORIENT THEM AND TO PUSH
IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
THE CARD GAMES
WERE HELD IN
MANY PLACES -- ON THE
PRESIDENTIAL YACHT...
MY FATHER PLAYED
POKER WITH HIM ON HIS YACH JUST OUTSIDE MALACANANG PALACE
WHERE HIS YACHT WAS MOORED
ON THE PASSIG RIVER.
IN THE
AIR-CONDITIONED LOBBY
OF THE MANILA HOTEL...
Jose: THE MANILA HOTEL WAS
THE TOPS.
IT WAS A MAJOR CENTER
OF SOCIAL ACTIVITY.
AT THE HOME OF
GREEK-AMERICAN PRIVATE
INVESTIGATOR ANGEL
ZERVOULAKOS.
Woman: THIS KIND OF POKER
WHERE THE FRIEDER BROTHERS COME
TO, THEY COME OUT LOOKING LIKE
THEY'VE SMOKED A LOT OF CIGARS.
[ LAUGHS ]
THEY'D SURE SMELL
LIKE IT, THOUGH.
I DO BELIEVE THAT MY DAD HAD
A PART IN THIS, HELPING
THE FRIEDER BROTHERS.
AND HE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE
DOING.
THESE HIGH-STAKE
GAMES ALSO
TOOK PLACE IN THE COOLING
BREEZE OF THE FRIEDERS'
BACK PORCH.
Jane Ellis: WE COULD HEAR
WHAT WAS GOING ON ON THE PORCH
ALL THE TIME.
WE COULD HEAR WHEN SOMEONE
BROUGHT FOOD OUT TO THEM OR
DRINKS OUT TO THEM.
BUT THEY WERE PLAYING POKER
OUT THERE.
IT WAS AT THESE GAMES
THAT THE FRIENDS
DEVELOPED A
PLAN TO BUILD
UPON THE SUCCESS
OF THE SHANGHAI RESCUE.
IT WAS A CAUSE
CLOSE TO ALL OF
THEM.
McNUTT CALLED
JEWISH REFUGEES
"HELPLESS AND PERSECUTED
WANDERERS WITH
NO PLACE TO LAY
THEIR HEADS."
EISENHOWER WROTE
IN HIS DIARY,
"HITLER'S RECORD
WITH THE JEWS
IS AS BLACK AS
THAT OF ANY
BARBARIAN OF THE
DARK AGES."
TO QUEZON, IT WAS NOT A
QUESTION OF WHETHER
HIS COUNTRY
WOULD HELP, BUT WHY OTHER
NATIONS DID NOT.
FOR THE FRIEDERS,
IT SIMPLY
NEEDED TO BE DONE.
Samuel: THEY FELT BECAUSE
THEY WERE ONE OF THE 50 AMERICAN
JEWISH FAMILIES THERE, THAT THA WAS THE ROLE EVERYBODY HAD TO
PLAY IF YOU'RE LUCKY ENOUGH
TO BE IN THE PHILIPPINES --
TRY AND GET AS MANY OU AS YOU COULD.
THE GOAL WAS TO BRING
THOUSANDS OF
EUROPEAN JEWS
TO THE PHILIPPINES.
BUT EVEN WITH THE LEGAL
AUTHORITY TO
APPROVE VISAS,
PAUL McNUTT KNEW
HE NEEDED TO
BE HOLDING A
PAIR OF POCKE ACES TO DEAL WITH AN
UNSYMPATHETIC
STATE DEPARTMENT.
ONE WAS SUPPORT FROM
PRESIDENT QUEZON.
QUEZON HAD DEAL WITH WAVES OF
IMMIGRANTS BEFORE,
AND HE WAS
ACUTELY AWARE
OF THE VOICES
OF ANTI-SEMITISM
IN HIS OWN
COUNTRY.
BUT QUEZON STOOD STRONG.
EVEN WITH
QUEZON'S SUPPORT,
McNUTT KNEW THEIR
PLAN COULD
STILL BE TORPEDOED
BECAUSE OF
THE REQUIREMENT THAT NO
IMMIGRANT COULD
BECOME A PUBLIC
CHARGE.
IN OTHER WORDS
-- NO MONEY,
NO JOB, NO VISA.
PRESIDENT QUEZON HAD
STIPULATED THAT HE DIDN'T WAN ANYBODY THAT WOULD BE A BURDEN
ON THE ECONOMY.
AND SO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY HAD
TO PROMISE THAT THEY WOULD TAKE
CARE OF THEM, WHICH THEY DID.
AND THAT WAS
McNUTT'S SECOND
ACE -- THE FRIEDERS.
QUEZON AND McNUT TURNED TO THE
FRIEDER BROTHERS
TO WORK OU A SYSTEM SO THA ONLY JEWISH
IMMIGRANTS WITH
THE SKILLS AND
RESOURCES TO
SUPPORT THEMSELVES
WOULD BE SENT VISAS.
AND IF THE REFUGEES
DID ARRIVE
PENNILESS, THE
JEWISH COMMUNITY
WOULD STILL TAKE
CARE OF THEM.
AND SO IT BEGAN.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
PREPARED A
LIST OF OCCUPATIONS
WHERE THEY
THOUGHT A REFUGEE
COULD GE A JOB IN THE
PHILIPPINES --
A LIST THAT COULD
MEAN LIFE OR
DEATH FOR A EUROPEAN JEW.
THEY HAD TO PICK AND CHOOSE
PEOPLE TO LET IN.
AND THERE WERE SO MANY MORE THA WANTED TO COME THAN THEY COULD
FILL JOBS FOR, THAT THEY COULD
SUPPORT WITH THE MONEY
THAT THEY HAD.
AND SO THAT'S
A HEARTBREAKING JOB.
I MEAN, TO BE DOING THE RIGH THING, AND THEN HAVE TO SAY NO
TO PEOPLE 'CAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE
ENOUGH MONEY OR YOU DON'T HAVE
THIS.
AND THAT WAS TOUGH.
Weston: WHEN I CAME HOME FROM
SCHOOL AT NOONTIME, WE WERE
SUPPOSED TO PICK UP MY FATHER
AND COME HOME FOR LUNCH.
BUT HE WAS NEVER READY BECAUSE
HE WAS WORKING ON THE LISTS.
HE ENLISTED THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
IN HELPING THEM GET JOBS.
AND HE HIRED A LOT OF PEOPLE
IN THE FACTORY HIMSELF.
IT WAS ALL-CONSUMING.
Man: THAT'S WHEN THE AD CAME
OUT IN THE MAIN JEWISH PAPER IN
BERLIN, AND IT SAID THAT THERE'S
A PLACE IN THE PHILIPPINES FOR
PEOPLE WHO HAVE SPECIAL SKILLS.
IN A WORLD
WHERE OPTIONS
WERE FAS DISAPPEARING, THERE
WERE FINALLY
ANSWERS TO THE
DESPERATE PLEAS THA ARRIVED EVERY DAY.
THE FRIEDERS AND
OTHERS ON THE
REFUGEE COMMITTEE
CHOSE WHO
WOULD BE APPROVED
FOR A VISA.
THESE LISTS WERE
THEN SENT TO
QUEZON FOR REVIEW,
AND McNUT PASSED THEM TO THE STATE
DEPARTMENT AND
U.S. EMBASSIES
IN EUROPE.
Man: THE UNITED STATES IS
CROSSED OUT, AND IT'S WRITTEN
"PHILIPPINE ISLANDS ONLY."
NOW PLANS
COULD BE MADE.
THEY MELTED DOWN MONEY.
THEY MADE A BRACELET --
EACH OF MY MOTHER AND MY AUNT,
HER SISTER, AND MY GRANDMOTHER
HAD BRACELETS MADE AND NECKLACES
MADE OUT OF GOLD,
AND THAT'S HOW THEY WERE ABLE TO
GET STUFF OUT.
DISASTERS AVERTED.
FOR YOUNG MARTA
MIODOWSKI,
AN ARYAN GIRL MARRIED TO
A JEWISH CIGAR-MAKER,
A PHILIPPINE
VISA WAS THE KEY
THAT RELEASED HER
HUSBAND FROM
THE INFAMOUS
SACHSENHAUSEN
CONCENTRATION CAMP.
Progl: SHE GOT A TAXI.
THOSE CAMPS WERE, OF COURSE,
IN THE WOODS, AND THEY
HAD SENTRIES.
WHEN YOU GOT TO THE SECOND
SENTRY, HE SAID HE WASN'T GOING
FURTHER, BUT MY MOTHER,
YOU DIDN'T SAY NO TO.
WHEN SHE GOT THERE, SHE TOLD
THEM SHE HAD COME TO SEE
THE COMMANDANT.
I HAD BLOND HAIR,
I LOOKED LIKE A REAL
GERMAN WHAT THEY CALL,
A REAL GERMAN GIRL.
SHE WAS AN ATTRACTIVE WOMAN,
AND THEY PROBABLY FIGURED,
"OH, OKAY...
HE'S GOT A LITTLE VISITOR."
SHE TOLD THEM SHE WAS COMING TO
GET HER HUSBAND.
NOBODY QUESTIONED ME
YOU KNOW THAT HE WAS JEWISH.
THEY HAD, I GUESS YOU CALL I "ROLL CALL."
AND THEY WERE ALL LINED UP.
AND WHEN THEY CALLED HIS NUMBER,
MY DAD WASN'T GONNA MOVE.
HE FIGURED THAT WAS IT.
SO SHE POINTED HIM OUT.
AND THAT'S -- TOOK HIM BACK IN
THE CAB.
HE HAD THICK, BLACK, WAVY HAIR.
AND...
SHAVED HIS HEAD --
NATURALLY, IN THE CONCENTRATION
CAMP.
AND WHEN MOM BROUGHT HIM,
AND I TOOK ONE LOOK AT HIM,
AND I RAN AWAY -- AND MY FATHER
WAS REAL UPSET.
BUT WHAT I DID IS I CAME BACK
WITH A HAT...
AND I COVERED HIM UP.
I COULD'VE STAYED.
THEY OFFERED IT TO ME.
THEY WOULD ANNUL MY MARRIAGE.
I SAID, I HAVE A DAUGHTER.
AND I ASKED HIM, I SAID...
WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HER?
HE SAID FOR HIM TO TAKE A GUESS,
SHE'S PROBABLY GOING TO END UP
IN A CONCENTRATION CAMP.
AND I SAID, NO THANK YOU.
WE WILL LEAVE.
ALL OF US, YOU KNOW, TOGETHER.
EVEN WITH A
VISA, IT WAS
A TERRIFYING
AND DANGEROUS
JOURNEY TO FREEDOM.
Preiss: THE BORDER POLICE
WOULDN'T LET US IN.
AND SO THEY TOOK US OUT OF THE
TRAIN AND RETURNED US TO FRANCE
ON THE -- AND WE WENT THROUGH
THE TUNNEL, THERE'S A GIAN TUNNEL BETWEEN FRANCE AND ITALY.
AND WE WENT BACK AND FORTH
THROUGH THAT A NUMBER OF TIMES.
THE FRENCH INTERN SAID, "YOUR
VISA EXPIRED."
SO, BANG, THEY PUT US BACK TO GO
TO ITALY.
IN THE MEANTIME, OUR BOAT WAS
LEAVING.
AND MY FATHER WAS DESPERATE.
HE FINALLY BRIBED SOMEBODY
TO GET US AN ESCORT TO THE BOAT.
Ambrunn: ON THE BORDER OF
ITALY AND GERMANY, NAZIS CAME
ONBOARD THE TRAIN,
LOOKED AT THE PASSPORTS, AND
TOOK ONE LOOK AT ME --
WHO WAS A BLONDE, BLUE-EYED.
AND HE SAYS, "THIS CHILD IS NO A JEW.
HE IS A TYPICAL ARYAN.
WE'RE TAKING HIM OFF THE TRAIN."
AND MY PARENTS WERE FORTUNATE
ENOUGH TO CONVINCE THEM THAT I
WAS THEIR CHILD.
MANY OTHER
FAMILIES WERE
TORN APART.
MY GRANDPARENTS CAME --
I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS.
I STILL SEE MY GRANDMOTHER.
UH...
TO THE TRAIN, AND THE
GOODBYE WAS AWFUL --
BECAUSE MY GRANDPARENTS KNEW
THEY MAY NEVER SEE US AGAIN.
AND SO IT WAS A VERY,
VERY EMOTIONAL
AND TEARY GOODBYE.
MORE THAN A
MONTH AFTER
McNUTT HAD BEGUN
HIS MAVERICK
VISA PROCESS, THE STATE
DEPARTMENT CAUGHT ON,
DEMANDING
INFORMATION ABOU HUNDREDS OF JEWS WHO WERE
APPLYING FOR VISAS TO THE
PHILIPPINES.
McNUTT REPLIED
COOLLY THAT MANY
REFUGEES HAD
ALREADY ARRIVED,
AND THEN UPPED
THE ANTE SAYING
THAT A HUNDRED ADDITIONAL
FAMILIES WERE
ON THEIR WAY.
Jane Ellis: McNUTT BUCKED
THE STATE DEPARTMENT.
THE STATE DEPARTMENT WASN' VERY NICE IN THOSE DAYS.
AND I THINK HE GAMBLED HIS
WHOLE POLITICAL CAREER
ON DOING THIS.
Kotlowski: WE'VE GOT TO
REMEMBER WHAT THE TEMPER OF THE
COUNTRY WAS, THE MOOD OF
THE UNITED STATES
AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
YOU HAD AN ANTIPATHY TOWARD MORE
REFUGEES.
YOU HAD INERTIA AND
ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE
STATE DEPARTMENT,
AND YOU HAD A PRESIDENT AND AN
ADMINISTRATION THAT WAS REALLY
ONLY INTERMITTENTLY INTERESTED
IN THE QUESTION.
THE U.S.
SECRETARY OF STATE
POINTEDLY WARNED
THE PHILIPPINE
GOVERNMENT THA THEY STILL HAD
TO ABIDE BY U.S.
IMMIGRATION
POLICY.
BUT QUEZON AND McNUT STAYED RESOLUTE.
AND WHILE THIS
BUREAUCRATIC
BATTLE RAGED, DESPERATE
PASSENGERS FLEEING
EUROPE ON
THE SSST.
LOUIS WERE DENIED
ENTRY TO CUBA, THE UNITED
STATES, AND CANADA.
THEY WERE FORCED
BACK TO AN
UNCERTAIN FUTURE
IN EUROPE --
A EUROPE WHERE
THE SYSTEMATIC
MURDER OF MILLIONS
BEGAN WITH
THE INVASION OF
POLAND IN 1939.
CONCENTRATION
CAMPS WOULD SOON
TRANSFORM INTO
DEATH CAMPS,
AND THE TRAINS
FILLED WITH
HELPLESS VICTIMS
WOULD BEGIN
TO ROLL.
Man: MANILA'S THIS CITY A THE BOTTOM OF LIKE A U-SHAPED
BAY, MANILA BAY.
AND AT THE END OF THE BAY,
THERE ARE TWO ARMS.
ONE WAS CALLED BATAAN AND THERE
WAS AN ISLAND THERE CALLED
CORREGIDOR, WHICH WAS LIKE THE
CORK IN THE BOTTLE.
ON THE MANILA SIDE, THERE WAS
A BEAUTIFUL DRIVE CALLED
DEWEY BOULEVARD.
AND ON THE SHORE SIDE, THERE
WERE THE MAGNIFICENT HOTELS.
THE FANCY MANILA HOTEL WAS THE
BIG ONE.
BUT ANYBODY COULD WALK ON
DEWEY BOULEVARD,
WATCH THE SUN SET.
AND IF YOU'VE NEVER SEEN
A SUNSET IN THE TROPICS,
IT'S ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.
WE ARRIVED ON HITLER'S
BIRTHDAY -- APRIL 20th --
FIVE DAYS BEFORE MY
13th BIRTHDAY.
Asher: MY AUNT AND UNCLE WERE
THERE TO GREET US, AND THEN I
DON'T REMEMBER EVEN GETTING OFF
THE BOAT.
BUT I DO REMEMBER THAT THEY TOOK
US TO AN APARTMENT THAT WE
SHARED WITH SOMEBODY ELSE --
WITH ANOTHER COUPLE.
Preiss: AND IN MANILA, A MAN
IN A WHITE SHARKSKIN SUIT CAME
ONBOARD AND WELCOMED MY PARENTS.
AND THAT HAPPENED TO BE
MR. ALEX FRIEDER.
Weston: WE HAD AN OPEN HOUSE
FOR THE REFUGEES EVERY
FRIDAY NIGHT.
AND THE TABLE WAS PILED HIGH
WITH FRIED CHICKEN
AND ORCHIDS FROM THE GARDEN.
EVERY FRIEDER
BROTHER KNEW
THAT HE HAD THREE DUTIES
WHEN IT WAS HIS
TURN IN MANILA.
NUMBER ONE WAS TO BE THE
PRESIDENT OF THE SYNAGOG.
NUMBER TWO WAS TO RUN THE
BUSINESS, AND NUMBER THREE WAS
TO GET THE JEWS OUT OF GERMANY.
THEY RAN
MANILA'S JEWISH
REFUGEE COMMUNITY, MAKING
LIFE-AND-DEATH
DECISIONS WITH
JUST THE POWER
OF PERSUASION
AND A REPUTATION
FOR INTEGRITY.
Woman: THE FRIEDERS WOULD SAY
TO MY FATHER, "OH, YOU KNOW,
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE CARE
OF THESE PEOPLE, AND ARE YOU
COMING IN WITH US?"
OR WHATEVER.
PROBABLY OVER A POKER GAME.
AND MY DAD SAID, "OF COURSE!"
YOU KNOW, AND HE WOULD
NATURALLY HELP OUT.
THIS IS THE WAY THEY DID IT,
BY WORD OF MOUTH.
THE EMIGRES,
STRUGGLING TO
EARN A LIVING IN
A STRANGE NEW
LAND, BECAME
QUITE CREATIVE.
Woman: MY MOTHER SUPPLEMENTED
THE INCOME BY TAKING
IN BOARDERS.
AND THE INTERESTING PART ABOU THAT WAS, IN EUROPE, MY MOTHER
NEVER WENT INTO THE KITCHEN
OR COOKED OR ANYTHING BECAUSE
THEY HAD A COOK, THEY HAD
A MAID.
Man: MY FATHER OPENED
A MEAT MARKET AND MY MOM WORKED.
IN FACT, SHE DELIVERED MEA TO HER FRIENDS BY CARRYING
THE BAGS AND WALKING,
MAYBE TWO OR THREE MILES A DAY.
MY FATHER FOUND A JOB ALMOS IMMEDIATELY.
AND MY MOTHER, I DON'T KNOW WHEN
SHE STARTED, BUT SHE WAS
A GOVERNESS TO A SMALL
AMERICAN BOY.
THE HALF-DOZEN
FAMILIES IN
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
WHO COULD
AFFORD IT WERE DONATING A
PORTION OF THEIR
INCOME EVERY
MONTH.
THEIR DONATIONS
WERE AS HIGH AS
$2,500.
THAT WOULD BE ALMOS $40,000 TODAY.
BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH.
BACK IN THE STATES, THE
FRIEDERS CONTINUED
TO RAISE
FUNDS FROM JEWISH REFUGEE
AGENCIES TO SUPPOR THE GROWING
RESCUE OPERATIONS.
IN MANILA, THEY RAN FIVE
COMMUNITY HOUSES
WHERE REFUGEES
WOULD SHARE EXPENSES.
Holzer: AND THERE WERE
A NUMBER OF FAMILIES IN THERE
BEFORE THEY SETTLED ANYWHERE IN
THE CITY WHO WERE LIVING IN,
I THINK IT WAS A LARGE, LARGE
ROOM.
AND WE SLEPT IN A ROOM THAT WAS
DIVIDED UP BY BED SHEETS.
THE PRESSURE BECAME PRETTY
BAD, AND PEOPLE WERE FIGHTING
WITH EACH OTHER.
FIGHTING OVER WHOSE --
THERE WAS A COMMON KITCHEN --
OVER WHOSE STUFF IN THE KITCHEN
HAD BEEN TOUCHED BY WHO AND
WHOSE KID DID THIS TO WHOM?
I REMEMBER THE ADULTS GOT INTO
IT ONE DAY, AND THEY WERE
FIST-FIGHTING, AND THEY WERE
BEATING EACH OTHER UP.
AND I RAN AWAY.
YOU DON'T GET THAT FROM ONE DAY
TO THE NEXT OUT, OF YOUR SYSTEM,
THAT ALL OF A SUDDEN,
YOU'RE A NOBODY.
AND WHILE THIS
NEW LIFE MAY
HAVE BEEN
DIFFICULT FOR THE
ADULTS, FOR THE CHILDREN,
IT WAS AN ADVENTURE.
Wachs: ONE TIME, MY MOTHER
AND MY SISTER AND I WENT HIKING.
AND WE STRAYED A LITTLE BI FAR OUT.
AND THE NATIVES IN THAT AREA
THAT WERE CALLED "IGORATS."
AND WE CAME TO A IGORAT VILLAGE
WHERE ON THE FENCE, ON THE GATE,
THEY HAD A COUPLE OF HEADS.
SO THEY WERE STILL HEADHUNTERS.
WE TURNED AROUND QUICKLY.
HARRY BRAUER, WHO WAS ONE OF
MY DAD'S BEST FRIENDS GROWING
UP, THEY WERE SO CLOSE THA UNCLE HARRY USED TO SLEEP OVER
IN THE PALACE.
I LED THIS STRANGE LIFE,
YOU KNOW.
I LIVED IN A SMALL HOUSE.
MY PARENTS WERE RUNNING
A LITTLE RESTAURANT,
AND EVERY SATURDAY, A
CHAUFFEURED LIMOUSINE CAME AND
PICKED ME UP AND TOOK ME TO
MALACANANG PALACE.
I REMEMBER THE PAPAYA TREES.
THE MARVEL OF THE PAPAYA TREE IS
THAT IT'S A TALL TREE,
BUT IT'S FLAT.
IT'S FLAT, IT'S ANGLED.
SO THE ADVENTURE OF CLIMBING UP
WITH YOUR FRIENDS ON A PAPAYA
TREE, IT WAS FUN.
FOR MANY CHILDREN,
TEMPLE EMIL, THE
ONLY SYNAGOG
IN THE PHILIPPINES,
WAS THE
CENTER OF THEIR LIVES.
Loewenstein: THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY WAS A COHESIVE
COMMUNITY.
AND WE ALL GOT INVOLVED IN A
SYNAGOG AND IN THE JEWISH
COMMUNITY PER SE.
SO WE ALL GOT TO KNOW EACH
OTHER.
Weston: THE CHILDREN OF THE
REFUGEES WERE DOING
A PURIM PLAY.
AND THEY WERE ACTING OUT HOW THE
JEWS WERE TREATED IN PERSIA.
Wachs: WE HAD SOME RATHER
ELABORATE COSTUMES, YOU KNOW,
CONSIDERING IT WASN'T JUS MAKESHIFT STUFF.
AND WE HAD REHEARSALS, AND THEN
WE HAD THE PLAY,
AND IT WAS A BIG THING.
THE ANCIEN STORY OF HOPE IS
IN DIRECT CONTRAS TO GERMAN
TANKS ROLLING INTO
DENMARK AND
NORWAY, HAPPENING
AT ALMOST THE
SAME MOMENT.
AS THE NUMBER OF REFUGEES
SWELLED, PRESIDENT QUEZON
DONATED A PORTION OF HIS
COUNTRY ESTATE FOR
A COMMUNITY HOUSE.
IT WAS NAMED
"MARAKINA HALL."
DOZENS OF REFUGEES
ATTENDED THE
OPENING CEREMONY,
A CELEBRATION FOR
THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
MARAKINA HALL WAS ACTUALLY
PROPERTY THAT HE HAD BOUGH THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE NES EGG FOR MY FATHER.
IT WAS GOING TO BE THE LAND THA WOULD MAKE SURE THAT MY FATHER
WOULD HAVE A GOOD LIVING AFTER
HIS FATHER WAS PRESIDENT.
THIS IS WHAT THEY DEVOTED FOR
THE PLACE THAT THE REFUGEES
WOULD STAY IN.
Hershfield: AT THE DEDICATION
OF MARAKINA HALL, THERE WERE
THE SPEECHES, AND THAT WAS
VERY EVIDENT THAT THEY WANTED
10,000 JEWS, QUEZON AND THE
FRIEDERS WERE HELPING,
TO COME TO THE PHILIPPINES.
PRESIDENT QUEZON WAS
SPEAKING OF A
PLAN TO BRING
TENS OF THOUSANDS
OF JEWS TO
ESTABLISH A
FARMING COMMUNITY
ON THE REMOTE ISLAND OF
MINDANAO.
KEEN OBSERVERS
OF WORLD EVENTS,
THE POKER PLAYERS
WERE WELL
AWARE THAT TIME
WAS RUNNING OU FOR EUROPEAN JEWS.
SO THEY ONCE AGAIN UPPED
THE ANTE.
PAUL McNUT INFORMED THE STATE
DEPARTMENT THA QUEZON WAS
WILLING TO TAKE
AS MANY AS
30,000 JEWISH FAMILIES.
ACCORDING TO
PHILLIP FRIEDER,
PRESIDENT QUEZON
WAS IN FAVOR
OF SETTLING AS
MANY REFUGEES AS
POSSIBLE ON MINDANAO,
SAYING HE'D BE HAPPY
IF A MILLION ARRIVED.
Sasser: QUEZON WAS A GOOD
CATHOLIC, AND HE THOUGHT THE
MOST UNRELIGIOUS THING HE
COULD THINK OF WAS TO THINK
BADLY TOWARDS THE PEOPLE
THAT GAVE THEM THEIR SAVIOR.
AND I JUST LOVE THAT QUOTE.
THE REACTION
FROM THE U.S.
STATE DEPARTMEN WAS NEGATIVE.
ONE MEMO SAID
THAT 2,000, NO 30,000, WAS A
MORE REALISTIC
NUMBER AND
WARNED THAT "FEW
MEMBERS OF THE
CAUCASIAN RACE
CAN ENDURE THE
HARDSHIPS OF THE
JUNGLE ISLAND."
IN MANILA, GENERAL
EMILIO AGUINALDO,
QUEZON'S
POLITICAL RIVAL,
GRUMBLED THA "JEWS ARE DANGEROUS
PEOPLE TO
HAVE AROUND IN
LARGE NUMBER."
DESPITE THIS OPPOSITION,
QUEZON KEP PRESSING TO SETTLE
REFUGEES ON MINDANAO,
ALTHOUGH THE
PLAN WAS LOWERED
TO 10,000 FAMILIES AND
STRETCHED OU OVER A PERIOD OF
MANY YEARS.
THE FRIEDERS
NEVER GAVE UP ON
MINDANAO, CONDUCTING LAND
SURVEYS AND
LOBBYING FILIPINO
LAWMAKERS.
ON NOVEMBER 21,
1941, THE FINAL
CONTRACT FOR THE
PURCHASE OF
LAND IN MINDANAO ARRIVED
IN NEW YORK.
THE POKER PLAYERS
HAD BET THE
POT, AND THEY HAD WON.
THOUSANDS MORE
REFUGEES COULD
COME TO THE PHILIPPINES.
BUT CIRCUMSTANCES QUICKLY
CHANGED EVERYTHING.
DAYS LATER, ALL
ATTEMPTS A RESCUE AND
RELOCATION ENDED
AS JAPANESE WAR PLANES
ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR.
WITHIN HOURS,
JAPANESE BOMBERS
ALSO APPEARED
OVER MANILA.
AND THE BOMB
ATTACKS CONTINUED
EVEN AFTER MacARTHUR
PULLED THE
AMERICAN TROOPS
OUT OF MANILA
AND DECLARED I AN OPEN CITY.
IT WAS AN ATTACK
THAT MANY
AMERICANS HAD DREADED.
MY MOTHER KEPT CYANIDE PILLS
IN HER MEDICINE CABINET SO THA IF THE JAPANESE EVER CAPTURED
US, SHE WAS PREPARED TO...
TAKE, AS I SAY, CYANIDE PILLS
AND GIVE THEM TO MY BROTHER
AND MYSELF.
PHILLIP FRIEDER
WANTED TO
STAY AND RUN THE
BUSINESS AND
CARE FOR THE REFUGEES.
IN THE END, PAUL
McNUTT HAD TO
TRICK PHILLIP
INTO LEAVING
BY TELLING HIM
THERE WAS A
FAMILY CRISIS BACK IN
CINCINNATI.
Dick: ON THE BOAT GOING BACK
FROM MANILA TO SAN FRANCISCO, WE
PASSED THE JAPANESE FLEET.
AND I REMEMBER WHEN WE PASSED
THE JAPANESE FLEET, THERE WAS
GREAT TERROR ON THE DECK.
IN A MATTER OF MONTHS,
MacARTHUR AND THE
QUEZON FAMILY
HAD BEEN FORCED
TO EVACUATE
AND MANILA WAS OCCUPIED
BY THE JAPANESE.
IT MARKED THE
BEGINNING OF
YEARS OF PRIVATION,
SUFFERING,
AND DEATH FOR FILIPINOS
AND REFUGEES ALIKE.
WE HAD GONE FROM
THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE.
Owens: IT WAS ABOUT 3:00 OR
4:00 IN THE MORNING, I BELIEVE,
AND THIS GREAT BIG BANG-BANG
ON THE FRONT DOOR.
THEY WERE LITERALLY
TEARING IT DOWN.
AND THEN THEY CAME UPSTAIRS,
AND WE WERE ALL ASLEEP.
AND THEN WAKE UP, THERE'S
BAYONETS LOOKING DOWN AT YOU.
I CAN PICTURE US WALKING DOWN
THE STREET, AND THE SUN WASN' UP YET.
AND IT WAS DARK, AND WE'RE ALL
FOLLOWING MY DAD.
WE COULDN'T EVEN LOOK A ANYTHING THAT WE LEFT BEHIND.
SO WE JUST...
FROM THE BED TO THE STREET.
AND THEY MADE OUR HOME THEIR
OFFICERS' QUARTERS.
THE JAPANESE
CONQUERED THE
REST OF THE PHILIPPINES,
STARVING OUT THE
LAST AMERICAN
MILITARY OUTPOS ON BATAAN
AND CORREGIDOR
AND MARCHING THE SOLDIERS
OFF TO BRUTAL
PRISON CAMPS.
Wachs: WE WERE THERE FOR THE
DEATH MARCH WHEN THE AMERICANS
CAME THROUGH THE STREETS.
WE WERE KIND OF PEERING OUT THE
WINDOW AND IT WAS HORRIBLE.
IT WAS JUST...
PEOPLE DRAGGING ALONG THE
STREET, MARCHING ALONG WITH THE
JAPANESE GUARDS ON EITHER SIDE.
IT WASN'T JUS MILITARY PRISONERS
OF WAR,
CIVILIANS WERE
ALSO ROUNDED UP.
AMERICANS,
BRITONS, AND OTHER
ENEMIES OF JAPAN
WERE INTERNED
WITH LITTLE FOOD
OR MEDICINE.
MY BROTHER AND I USED TO
BRING FOOD.
MY FATHER GAVE IT TO US.
AND WHEN THE JAPANESE WEREN' LOOKING, WE'D THROW IT OVER THE
FENCE SO THEY'D HAVE SOMETHING
TO EAT.
IRONICALLY,
THE JAPANESE
TREATED MANY
JEWISH REFUGEES
AS ALLIES,
ALLOWING THEM TO
RETURN TO THEIR HOMES.
Woman: THE JAPANESE WOULD
LOOK AT MY PARENTS' PASSPORTS
AND SAY, "OH, YOU'RE AUSTRIAN.
OH, THAT MEANS YOU'RE GERMAN."
[ CHUCKLES ]
"THAT MEANS YOU'RE THE GOOD
GUYS."
THEY WEREN'T ANTI-SEMITIC.
THEY SAID, "IF YOU'RE GERMAN,
YOU'RE ON OUR SIDE."
BUT THE
REFUGEES HAD NO
DOUBT WHOSE
SIDE THEY WERE
REALLY ON.
Ambrunn: ONE OF THE STUPIDES THINGS MY BROTHER AND I DID WAS
WE STOLE HAND GRENADES FROM THE
JAPANESE AND GAVE IT TO THE
FILIPINO GUERILLAS.
IF MY PARENTS WOULD HAVE FOUND
OUT, I DON'T THINK
WE'D BE HERE RIGHT NOW.
THE JAPANESE
RULED MANILA
WITH A CRUEL AND
BRUTAL HAND.
IF THEY CAUGHT SOMEBODY
STEALING, THEY'D STRING THEM UP
ON A TREE.
AND EVERY JAPANESE THAT WALKED
BY WOULD KICK OR SLAP OR HI THE PERSON ON THE TREE.
THEY'D BEAT THIS GUY
FOR HOUR AFTER HOUR AFTER HOUR.
AND...
EVENTUALLY, HE DIED.
AFTER ALMOS THREE LONG
YEARS OF JAPANESE
OCCUPATION,
GENERAL MacARTHUR
MADE GOOD
ON HIS PROMISE
TO RETURN AND
LIBERATE THE PHILIPPINES.
Loewenstein: I RECALL, VERY
VIVIDLY AT ONE TIME, ONE OF THE
PURSUIT PLANES WHO WAS FLYING
DOWN QUITE LOW, AND I WAS ON THE
STREET IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE.
AND APPARENTLY THE PILOT SAW.
AND HE DID A 360 AND FLEW BACK
AND DROPPED A HERSHEY CANDY BAR
TO ME.
WE SPLIT IT.
YOU KNOW, LIKE, 30 DIFFEREN WAYS.
EVERYBODY GOT A TASTE OF IT.
UH...
YEAH, IT WAS GREAT, BECAUSE I WAS ONE STEP CLOSER TO
LIBERATION, YOU KNOW?
[ GUNS BOOMING ]
BUT THE WAR
WAS NOT OVER.
DESPITE MacARTHUR'S
RETURN,
THE WORST WAS
YET TO COME.
JAPANESE SUPREME
COMMAND ISSUED
ORDERS TO KILL OR BURN
EVERYTHING IN THEIR PATH
AS THEY RETREATED
FROM MANILA.
[ AIR-RAID SIREN WAILS ]
Owens: YOU COULD SEE MANILA
BURNING FOR A WHOLE WEEK.
AND IT WAS SO BRIGHT,
AND IT NEVER DIED FOR A WHOLE
WEEK OR SO.
AND THE FIRES WERE JUST BURNING
AND BURNING AND BURNING.
AND WE WERE RIGHT IN
THE MIDDLE OF IT.
THE HORROR
OF BEING CAUGH BETWEEN TWO ARMIES
SEEMED LIKE
IT WOULD GO ON FOREVER.
MY FATHER BROUGHT MY
MOTHER AND ME TO A SAFE PLACE.
HE WENT BACK INTO THE HOUSE, GO A FEW MORE THINGS, AND WHEN HE
CAME OUT, THE JAPANESE SAW HIM,
AND THEY KILLED HIM --
THEY BAYONETED HIM.
IT WAS PRETTY BAD.
Loewenstein: AND WE SAW THE
JAPANESE GO INTO A HOUSE
NEXT TO US.
THERE WAS A FAMILY IN THERE,
AND...
THEY HAD A BABY.
AND THE JAPANESE THREW THE BABY
UP AND CAUGHT IT WITH A BAYONET.
WE WERE LINED UP AGAINS THE WALL.
AND THEY STARTED TO LOAD
THEIR RIFLES.
AND THEY WERE GONNA SHOOT US
ON A FIRING SQUAD.
AND WE BEGGED FOR OUR LIVES.
RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOUSE,
IN THE BACK OF OUR HOUSE,
A HOUSE HAD BURNED A DAY
OR TWO BEFORE.
THE HOUSES HAD CORRUGATED ROOFS.
SO WE WENT UNDER THE CORRUGATED
ROOF TO LIE DOWN.
AND, UNFORTUNATELY, RIGHT NEX TO ME WAS A WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN
BAYONETED AND WAS DEAD.
IT WAS...
HER WHOLE BODY EXPOSED BECAUSE
SHE'D BEEN BAYONETED.
AND WE LAY THERE FOR TWO DAYS.
ALL AROUND US, THERE WERE
OTHER PEOPLE IN FOXHOLES.
AND THE LOUDER THE BOMBING,
THE LOUDER THE PRAYING.
Farquhar: I WAS THIS LITTLE
BABY, AND I WAS CRYING.
AND THEY WERE STUFFING
HANDKERCHIEFS IN MY MOUTH
TO "SHUT THE BABY UP,
SHUT THE BABY UP!"
SO WITHIN A TWO-WEEK PERIOD
OF THE LIBERATION, OVER 100,000
CIVILIANS WERE KILLED
INDISCRIMINATELY.
THEY DIDN'T CARE IF THEY WERE
JEWS, THEY DIDN'T CARE IF THEY
WERE FILIPINOS -- THEY DIDN' CARE WHO THEY WERE.
IN THE FOG
OF WAR, IT WAS
HARD TO TELL
FRIEND FROM FOE.
Farquhar: THEY HEARD
FOOTSTEPS CLOSE TO THE FOXHOLE
STOPPING RIGHT AT THE EDGE.
AND THEY SAID, "WE'RE DOOMED.
THEY FOUND US.
THIS IS IT.
THE BABY GAVE US AWAY."
[ CHUCKLES ]
"WE'RE DEAD."
AND THE NEXT THING THEY HEARD
WAS, "ANYONE WAN A CHESTERFIELD?"
THE GUY SLID DOWN.
HE HAD HIS RIFLE.
HE WAS LOOKING ALL AROUND.
IT WAS, I DON'T KNOW,
20, 30 PEOPLE IN THERE.
AND IT TURNS OUT WHEN HE CAME
DOWN, HIS HELMET FLEW OFF
AND HE WAS BLONDE AND BLUE-EYED.
AND WE GRABBED HIM,
AND WE KISSED HIM.
AND HE SAID TO US,
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE.
I GOT A WAR TO FIGHT.
LET ME GO!"
FINALLY, THE WAR
WAS REALLY OVER.
WE WENT THROUGH SOME VERY HARD
TIMES THERE, IN THE PHILIPPINES.
IT WAS NO PICNIC THERE.
BUT AS YOU SEE, WE SURVIVED.
REFUGEES AND MANY OF
THE JEWISH
SOLDIERS WHO HAD
RESCUED THEM GATHERED A THE SAN LAZARO RACETRACK
FOR THE FIRST NIGH OF PASSOVER.
Lipetz: IT WAS
A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE.
IT BROUGHT TO MIND AT THAT TIME
THAT WE WERE REALLY FREE.
THE BOY WHO ASKED THE
FOUR QUESTIONS
- WAS 10-
- YEAR-OLD
GEORGE LOEWENSTEIN.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE?
WHEN YOU LOOK OVER
THE VASTNESS OF ALL THESE
SOLDIERS IN THE STANDS,
IT WAS AWESOME.
IT'S ALSO GREAT SEEING
THE AMERICAN FLAG FLYING AGAIN,
RATHER THAN THE RISING SUN,
THE RED BALL AGAINS THE WHITE BACKGROUND.
SO, THAT WAS VERY IMPRESSIVE
TO SEE THE STARS AND STRIPES.
STILL IS IMPRESSIVE.
BY SEPTEMBER 1945,
JAPAN HAD SURRENDERED AND
THOUSANDS GATHERED
IN MANILA
TO CELEBRATE THE
HIGH HOLIDAYS.
AMERICAN GIs REBUIL TEMPLE EMIL,
WHICH HAD BEEN
DESTROYED BY
THE JAPANESE.
FITTINGLY, THE
FUNDRAISING FOR
THE NEW TEMPLE
BEGAN WITH A
CEREMONY ON
NOVEMBER 9, 1945 --
THE ANNIVERSARY OF
KRISTALLNACHT.
THE POKER PLAYERS
QUIETLY MOVED
ON, BUT THEY
REMAINED FOREVER
LINKED TO THE
LIVES OF OVER
1,300 JEWISH REFUGEES.
THE FRIEDER'S
CIGAR FACTORIES
HAD BEEN LEVELED AND THE
FRIEDER BROTHERS
BEGAN THE TASK
OF REBUILDING THE FAMILY
BUSINESS BACK
IN THE STATES.
PAUL McNUT RETURNED TO MANILA
AND LOWERED THE
AMERICAN FLAG
ON THE DAY THE
PHILIPPINES
GAINED INDEPENDENCE.
DWIGHT EISENHOWER
-- NOW THE
SUPREME COMMANDER
OF NATO --
MADE A LOW-KEY INSPECTION
TO THE RUINS OF
THE CITY WHERE
HE HAD SPEN SO MANY YEARS.
MANUEL QUEZON
DIED IN EXILE
IN THE UNITED STATES.
HE NEVER GOT TO SEE THE
PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE,
WHICH HE HAD FOUGH SO HARD FOR,
BUT HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS
LIVE ON.
Jose: MOST FILIPINOS
ARE FAMILIAR WITH
"SCHINDLER'S LIST."
VERY FEW FILIPINOS KNOW THA QUEZON WAS, IN HIS OWN WAY,
A KIND OF SCHINDLER.
AND IT HAS COME OUT,
AND I THINK PEOPLE HAVE
BEEN PROUD OF THAT.
THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE.
THERE WERE PEOPLE
THAT WERE SAVED.
YOU HAVE TO GIVE THANKS
FOR THOSE PEOPLE.
WHAT THE FRIEDERS CREATED
AN OPPORTUNITY TO ESCAPE.
BUT AN OPPORTUNITY ALSO TO
LIVE AND TO DEVELOP AND CREATE
A NEW FUTURE FOR SO MANY.
IT'S ONE THING TO
SIT AROUND A CARD TABLE
AND TALK ABOUT A WORRISOME
SITUATION, EVEN A DIRE
SITUATION.
IT'S QUITE ANOTHER TO ACTUALLY
TAKE SOME ACTION.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHY THIS IS
A STORY FOR ALL TIME.
IT WOULD BE MUCH SIMPLER TO
UNDERSTAND, "OKAY, THE FRIEDERS
SOMEHOW PUT UP MONEY AND FIGURED
OUT A WAY TO GET VISAS
AND DID IT."
OR SIMPLER TO UNDERSTAND QUEZON
SOMEHOW ACTING ON HIS OWN,
HAVING THIS EPIPHANY OF HELPING
SOMEBODY, AND, YOU KNOW,
DOING IT.
BUT THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, HE
AS A CATHOLIC, AND McNUTT AS A
PROTESTANT, AND THE FRIEDERS AS
JEWS COME TOGETHER, MAKE IT EVEN
MORE RICH AND INTERESTING
AND INCREDIBLE THAT IT HAPPENED.
IN THAT HISTORICAL MOMEN THEY WERE HEROES,
BUT THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY SEE
THEMSELVES AS HEROES.
THEY WERE -- IT LOOKS LIKE
THEY WERE JUST DOING THE
RIGHT THING, AND THEY RESPONDED
TO A CRISIS IN THE RIGHT WAY,
REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THA IT WASN'T NECESSARILY GREA FOR THEIR CAREERS AS A PRESIDEN OR AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
MILITARY -- OR EVEN FOR
A CAREER AS A CIGAR-MAKER.
SOMEBODY HAS TO TAKE A RISK.
SOMEBODY HAS TO PUT THEIR VALUES
ON THE LINE AND SAY,
"WE'RE GOING TO DO IT."
Asher: TO ME, HITLER LOS TWO WARS.
HE LOST THE REGULAR WAR,
AND HE LOST THE WAR
AGAINST THE JEWS.
AT THE OPEN
DOORS MONUMEN IN ISRAEL ARE
WRITTEN THE WORDS
OF PRESIDEN MANUEL QUEZON.
"IT IS MY HOPE,
AND INDEED
MY EXPECTATION,
THAT THE PEOPLE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
WILL HAVE
IN THE FUTURE
EVERY REASON TO
BE GLAD THA WHEN THE TIME OF
NEED CAME, THEIR
COUNTRY WAS
WILLING TO EXTEND
A HAND OF WELCOME."