Holocaust museum in Michigan honors Quezon’s rescue of Jews

Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, CEO of the Holocaust Memorial Center in Michigan (left) receives in his office Consul General Generoso D.G. Calonge (center) and Deputy Consul General Romulo Victor Israel Jr. CONTRIBUTED

CHICAGO — The wall of the “Righteous Among the Nations” honoring the late President Manuel L. Quezon for saving more than 1,300 Jews from the Holocaust was visited by Consul General Generoso D.G. Calonge on Friday, March 31 at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan.

The museum highlights the little-known historical fact about President Quezon’s leading role in rescuing more than 1,300 Jews in a grand plan to open the Philippines to up to a million Jewish refugees who were fleeing the Holocaust.

However, the Philippine Commonwealth government remained under the control of the United States, which maintained at the time a restrictive policy toward refugees, thus putting President Quezon at a serious political risk. Moreover, the outbreak of World War II interrupted his plan of opening settlements for more Jews to live in the country.

During the visit, Consul General Calonge met with Rabbi Eli Mayerfeld, chief executive officer of the Holocaust Memorial Center Zekelman Family Campus. Calonge thanked Rabbi Mayerfeld, his predecessor, Stephen Goldman, and the center’s board for the recognition of President Quezon’s great contribution, which in his own words was just “the right thing to do.”

The portrait of President Manuel L. Quezon with a brief description of his heroic contribution is prominently displayed at the “Righteous Among the Nations” permanent exhibit of the center. CONTRIBUTED

The tribute to President Quezon, the Consul General noted, likewise shines a spotlight on the Philippines. “It shows our character as a freedom and peace loving nation willing to do our share for humanity’s most needy and vulnerable,” he said.

Consul General Calonge expressed hope that, with the same value and standard set by the Holocaust Memorial Center in Michigan, the oldest such institution in the United States, other museums would grant recognition to President Quezon.

A brief tour of the museum followed the meeting. Calong saw the memorial for President Quezon with other notable individuals considered as “Righteous Among the Nations.”