VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur (PIA) -- The Embassy of the State of Israel to the Philippines, in collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd), will be holding a series of photographic exhibitions in several schools in the Philippines to commemorate the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is observed worldwide every Jan. 27.
 
The Holocaust refers to the genocide of European Jews during World War II from 1941 to 1945, in which Nazi Germany systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe.
 
The exhibition series opened at Mabilbila Integrated School in Santa, Ilocos Sur on March 7, which was attended by the Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines, Ilan Fluss, DepEd officials, and students and teachers.
 
The exhibition aims to honor the victims and survivors and pay tribute to their resilience and strength, according to Director Margarita Consolacion Ballesteros of the DepEd External Partnerships Service International Cooperation Service.
 
“By teaching the history of the Holocaust, we equip future generations with the knowledge and empathy necessary to build a more just and inclusive world. Through education, we can and will inspire compassion and understanding, thereby fostering a society where every individual is valued, appreciated, and respected,” she said.

Dubbed “Flashes of Memory: Photography Creating Perception during the Holocaust,” the exhibition features information about the Holocaust, photographs taken during the war and stories behind them, narratives of survivors, and anecdotes about prominent people recognized as “Righteous Among the Nations” who rescued and helped Jews during the war.
 
It is an adaptation of "Children in the Holocaust: Stars Without a Heaven,” curated by Yehudit Inbar and exhibited at Yad Vashem in the State of Israel.
 
In his message, Ambassador Fluss thanked Vice President and Secretary of Education Sara Zimmerman Duterte, the DepEd team, and Mabilbila Integrated School for being their partners in organizing the remembrance event.
 
“It is important that we recognize and appreciate the efforts in teaching and educating future generations about the fact that no country stood against the Nazis and helped the Jews but there was one exception, which is the Philippines,” said Fluss.

He mentioned that former President Manuel Quezon extended refuge to about 1,300 Jews, granting them haven and shelter in the Philippines in 1938.
 
“He saved not only those 1,300 Jews but he saved future generations and families in a way when I talk about the relationship as a diplomat between the State of Israel and the Philippines, this is one of the most important foundations of the relations between our two countries – opening your doors to Jewish refugees trying to escape the Holocaust, and secondly it is also voting in the United Nations in 1947 in support of the establishment of the State of Israel as a homeland, a haven for the Jews for the long run,” Fluss added.
 
The next exhibit will be held in a school in the CALABARZON region on March 14 and Northern Mindanao on March 21. (JCR/MJTAB/JMCQ, PIA Ilocos Sur)