Tours Philippines - Escape to Manila: FROM NAZI TYRANNY TO JAPANESE TERROR
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List Price: $29.95
toursphilippines.com Price: $29.95
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.53089924059916
EAN: 9780252028458
ISBN: 0252028457
Label: University of Illinois Press
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 248
Publication Date: 2003-08-12
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Studio: University of Illinois Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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With the rise of Nazism in the 1930s more than a thousand European Jews sought refuge in the Philippines, joining the small Jewish population of Manila. When the Japanese invaded the islands in 1941, the peaceful existence of the barely settled Jews filled with the kinds of uncertainties and oppression they thought they had left behind. In this book Frank Ephraim, who fled to Manila with his parents, gathers the testimonies of thirty-six refugees, who describe the difficult journey to Manila, the lives they built there upon their arrival, and the events surrounding the Japanese invasion. Combining these accounts with historical and archival records, Manila newspapers, and U.S. government documents, Ephraim constructs a detailed account of this little-known chapter of world history.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great History, even with errors
Comment: I have been collecting books of this genre - Manila during the Japanese occupation and subsequent liberation for a number of years and was pleased to add this to my collection. My mother's family was in Manila and like the author they suffered and struggled. To the reviewer who noted that he doesn't care since he doesn't know the people, I say "so what" -- I don't give his review any credibility. One does not read books of this genre and expect to know the people involved. However, as one reviewer has already pointed out, the author made the egregious error of referring to the "Jesuits" at DeLaSalle. My grandfather was president of the DeLaSalle Alumni Association in 1944-45, all of my Uncles attended DeLaSalle and were the author's classmates. To link Jesuits to De La Salle totally negates the credibility of the book in it's entirety to any De La Salle or Ateneo (the Jesuit School)alumni. I am giving it three stars because of the subject but this book should have been edited for accuracy before publication.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Stories Of Escape
Comment: "Escape To Manila" by Frank Ephraim. Subtitled "From Nazi Tyranny To Japanese Terror". University of Illinois Press, 2003.
This is a collection of intriguing stories, documenting the escape of many different Jewish people, families and individuals, from the impending Holocaust in Nazi dominated Europe. One of the escapees is the author, Frank Ephraim, who has done a great deal of research on how and when the individual escapees reached Manila, The Philippines, and their fate when the Japanese were forced out.
Each of the intriguing stories has its own chronology: some Jews escaped in the early 1930s, when the promulgation of the Nuremberg Laws painted a dark picture of their future, while others did not leave until the September 1st 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland. These necessarily different chronologies can be confusing as you read this interesting book. Further, the author insists giving the date of the Pearl Harbor attack as December 8th, I.e. Manila time, as the Philippines are on the other side of the International Dateline. Of particular interest to me was the story of the young man who flew from Europe to the ends of Asia (Shanghai) in a German JU52. He was the only passenger. That kind of trip was rare enough at that time, but for a Jew who was escaping it was audacious. Further, the author completes the story, through enough research, to track down what happened to that aircraft after Pearl Harbor.
The author's research has some flaws, however. On page 73 he mentions the Catholic De La Salle College", which he attended on Taft Avenue in Manila. He states that the College was staffed by "... Jesuit brothers". This is in error. De La Salle College was begun and staffed by the Christian Brothers De La Salle, an order of teaching brothers begun by St. John Baptist De La Salle(1651-1719) in Reims, France. The Jesuits do have brothers, but they were begun by St. Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). When I checked the notes in the back of the book, the reference to the college and the Jesuits brothers was based upon "personal recollection". In my Historiography classes, my professor warned me against depending solely on personal recollection or personal memory. So, I went to the web site for De La Salle College (now University) and that confirmed that it was the Christian Brothers De La Salle. By the way, the Japanese massacred fifteen of the Brothers in the last days of the occupation. As a graduate of Manhattan College, begun by the Christian Brothers De La Sale in 1853, I am, perhaps, oversensitive to any slight, intended or unintended, to them.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Enlightening surprise
Comment: I found this book quite by accident in the library of the Army & Navy Club in Washington, DC, little suspecting it contained interesting details of the Netzorg family in the Phillipines prior to WWII. My grandmother's maiden name was Netzorg, and the family settled in Carson City, MI. My father was quite proud of his Netzorg antecedents, and this book helps me understand now what I couldn't appreciate 50 years ago. Family history notwithstanding, Mr. Ephraim uncovers fascinating details how Jews fleeing Germany found sanctuary in a most unlikely place. He records the generosity of the Philippine people, a spirit that wasn't widely shared in the world at that time. It truly deserves recognition then as the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
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Summary: Compelling Story of Heroism and Survival
Comment: A truly amazing story based on real life events documenting Jewish immigration from Nazi Germany to a friendly Phillipines until takeover and oppression by the Japanese Army during World War II.
Frank Emphraim recounts tales long forgotten of bravery, heroism, survival and despair. As a child he immigrated to the Phillipines as the result of extraordinary efforts on the part of the U.S. and Phillipine governments. He tells, along with many others, the story of the four Frieder brothers who took great effort to secure the absorption of 1,200 Jewish immigrants into the Phillipines with the help of Phillipine President Quezon and U.S. High Commissioner Paul McNutt.
What was once a growing Jewish community interspersed amongst native Phillipinos was decimated by the Japanese invasion prior to it's ultimate reclaiming by American troops during the Battle of Manila. Much like Schlinder's List but set in the tropics.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Poorly written
Comment: I thought the topic seemed interesting. The writing is hard to follow, tons of names which probably mean a lot to the author but not to the reader. It reminded me of memoirs written by family members, great if you know them, but only if you do. Too few facts, too many personal experiences which are of little interest to people outside the family circle.
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