How the Philippines saved 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust

By Madison Park, CNN

Updated 2051 GMT (0451 HKT) February 3, 2015

From 1937 to 1941, about 1,200 European Jews found refuge from the Holocaust in the Philippines. Their migration was part of an effort by the Philippines president, Manuel Quezon, the Jewish-American Frieder family, and an American official, Paul McNutt. Several of the Jewish refugees pose with Mr. and Mrs. Alex Frieder in this 1940 picture in the Philippines.
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From 1937 to 1941, about 1,200 European Jews found refuge from the Holocaust in the Philippines. Their migration was part of an effort by the Philippines president, Manuel Quezon, the Jewish-American Frieder family, and an American official, Paul McNutt. Several of the Jewish refugees pose with Mr. and Mrs. Alex Frieder in this 1940 picture in the Philippines.
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The European Jews escaped the throes of the Nazis only to face another bloody war under Japanese occupation. Manila burned following the bombing by the Japanese forces on February 27, 1945. The battle for Manila was one of the bloodiest on the Pacific front.
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The European Jews escaped the throes of the Nazis only to face another bloody war under Japanese occupation. Manila burned following the bombing by the Japanese forces on February 27, 1945. The battle for Manila was one of the bloodiest on the Pacific front.
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The Philippines' first president, Manuel Quezon and U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, Paul McNutt, devised a strategy to grant visas to European Jews, who were fleeing the Holocaust. The photo shows the pair in 1938.
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The Philippines' first president, Manuel Quezon and U.S. High Commissioner to the Philippines, Paul McNutt, devised a strategy to grant visas to European Jews, who were fleeing the Holocaust. The photo shows the pair in 1938.
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Frank Ephraim, the boy on the right, arrived with his family to Manila at the age of eight. Many fled one war to end up in the throes of the Pacific conflict.
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Frank Ephraim, the boy on the right, arrived with his family to Manila at the age of eight. Many fled one war to end up in the throes of the Pacific conflict.
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Ursula Miodowski, at age five, and her mother, Martha Miodowski, left Germany after her father, who is Jewish, was imprisoned in a concentration camp.
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Ursula Miodowski, at age five, and her mother, Martha Miodowski, left Germany after her father, who is Jewish, was imprisoned in a concentration camp.
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The Jewish refugees gather at an event in the Philippines in 1940.
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The Jewish refugees gather at an event in the Philippines in 1940.
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