Manila, a sanctuary from the Shoah
Image from Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah
The image of the Philippines in the international media (assuming the news is not about death tolls from natural calamities) is that of a country whose people are leaving in large numbers. Every day thousands of Filipinos fly out of the maligned airport to seek economic opportunity abroad. We are largely known through our highly efficient nurses, seamen, domestic helpers and Manny Pacquiao.
A much lesser-known fact about the Philippines is that it has long been a haven for refugees and displaced people. This humanitarian tradition extends to people of any ethnicity, color, creed. The famous Philippine hospitality is not an invention of public relations experts but a quality inextricable from being Pinoy.
Manila in the 1930s
Quezon’s List: How the Philippines gave sanctuary to European Jews fleeing the Holocaust, in Emotional Weather Report, today in the Philippine Star.
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January 16th, 2012 at 11:15
That a nice, crisp color photo… it’s almost like it was taken from the 70s. Apparently, Coca-Cola was ubiquitous then as it is today.