Quezon family and scholar

“Yes. He was a man who had a great deal of respect for human life, and he felt that what was happening there was a great injustice, and he couldn‟t understand why more countries would not open their doors to the Jews.”

“He had the moral courage to do it.”

“He believed enough in the cause of providing the fleeing Jews a place where they could resume their normal lives…he was willing to stand up for that for which he believed regardless of whatever the costs would be.”

“Yes, he (President Manuel Quezon) played poker, and I remember once I was on the presidential yacht, the Casiana, and they were playing poker. And I was standing behind him, and I was watching. And when I saw that he drew a card that would be probably the winning hand, I went [gasp]!”

“And so afterwards he told me, „Until you can learn to put on a poker face, you cannot watch a poker game.‟”

“And I did learn how to put on a poker face, and it was something that stood me in very good stead. Because very many times I‟d be sitting on a stage for some public function and somebody would be expressing opinions that I disagreed with 100 percent, but I just kept a straight face.”

“Well, Morris could have sold ice to the Eskimos. I mean he was one of those people. He did a lot of traveling to different cities, and he had friends wherever he went… He was just a very outgoing, pleasant, nice person, and a wonderful father.”

“McNutt bucked the State Department. The state department wasn‟t very nice in those days. I mean this never could have been without McNutt, and I think he gambled his whole political career on doing this. A great deal of credit needs to go to him, as to Quezon in the Philippines. I mean after nobody would take these people in, the Philippines did.”

“I don‟t think any of the refugees really wanted to come to the Philippines. They wanted to go to Israel, or they wanted to come to the United States where they couldn‟t go.”

“They didn‟t think they did anything remarkable. They really didn‟t. I mean we don‟t know that much about it because they never talked about it.”

“Yes, yes, I did not think it would ever happen in Germany but it did…They had all the power they wanted…at that time after Hitler had taken over…They came at night and arrested him (my husband)”

“The first thing they said was annul your marriage…just say so and your marriage didn‟t exist. I was supposed to stay in Germany and become a Nazi (laughs) and I said no thank you.”

“But I had a daughter and (asked) what is going to happen to her. What do you consider her? And he said well, she‟s considered, in German you call it „mischling‟…she was half German background and half Jewish. …The guy was quite honest and he said she probably is going to end up in a concentration camp.”

“The concentration camp he (my husband) was in…well, I had blond hair, I looked like a real German, what they call a real German girl, right. And I went there and I simply had a lot of nerve. I went to the gate and I said I was coming to pick up my husband. Nobody questioned me, you know, that he was Jewish…so I got him out.”