At the Jewish Association of the Philippines, a vault preserves the documents that allowed around 1,300 Jewish refugees to enter the Philippines in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when almost every other country in the world had closed its doors. The Philippine government under President Manuel Quezon issued visas and offered settlement in Mindanao to refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and occupied Europe.
The vault holds passports, correspondence, immigration papers, and photographs from that period. The story is not well-known internationally, but in the Philippines it is a source of genuine pride — a moment when a small, poor country did the right thing when wealthy democracies would not. The Jewish community in Manila organised the documentation of this history and maintains access for researchers and visitors by appointment.
Contact the Philippine Jewish Community for visiting arrangements. The site is in the New Manila area of Quezon City.