(All ceremony photos courtesy of the Embassy of Israel)
The Embassies of Israel and Germany recently held a candle lighting ceremony at the National Museum of Natural History in Manila in remembrance of approximately six million Jews who perished during the Holocaust.
Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Dana Kursh led the observance, along with Ambassador Andreas Michael Pfaffersnoske of the Federal Republic of Germany, United Nations Resident Coordinator to the Philippines Arnaud Peral, and other foreign and government officials.
As a descendant of great grandparents who were killed by the Nazis, Ambassador Kursh said the International Holocaust Commemoration Day is “remembered not only through loss, but also through moral courage. My grandmother, Rachel Dudszek, was born in Warsaw. During the Holocaust, Nazi Germany killed her parents and seven of her brothers and sisters. She was the only survivor among eight siblings. She chose life, rebuilt and passed the memory forward. I carry her story with me—not only as grief, but as responsibility.”
Recognizing former Philippine President Manuel Quezon’s role in helping the Jews that time, Kursh noted, “Because of his decision, more than 1,300 Jewish men, women and children found refuge in Manila. At a time when much of the world closed its doors to Jews fleeing persecution, President Manuel Quezon opened his heart and opened his country.”
She also directed the commemoration guests to the “film ‘Quezon’s Game,’ which depicted how the former president fought to save thousands of Jewish people from the Nazi persecution, relentlessly and tirelessly, sacrificing a lot, including himself.”
In closing, the ambassador stressed sharing this historical fact with the younger generation is crucial. “Memory does not pass itself on. It has to be taught, explained and made relevant. Our responsibility is to make sure that Generation Z does not encounter history as distant facts, but a source of values and guidance—and to help them understand how lessons in the past can inspire moral leadership in the present.”
Known in Hebrew as Shoa, the Holocaust was the genocide of European Jews conducted by Nazi Germany from 1941-1945. The Nazi and its collaborators committed the systematic mass murder of the Jews which were estimated to be about two-thirds of the Europe’s population at that time. Other historical records reveal millions of non-Jewish population and prisoners of war were also persecuted, or worse, murdered by the Nazi Germany.
In 2005, the United Nations declared January 27 as the official day of the annual commemoration of the Holocaust.
