How the Philippines outsmarted Nazis

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines became a refuge for 1,300 Jews rescued from Nazi Germany in the middle of World War II—a little known piece of history that contributed to the country's healthy ties with Israel to this day.

The ingenious plan that led to one of the Holocaust's most daring rescues was hatched in a poker game.

The tale started when five Frieder brothers, who were American cigar makers asked poker buddies, Filipino President Manuel Quezon, US High Commissioner Paul McNutt and US Army Col. Dwight Eisenhower, to embark on a mission to bring thousands of Jewish refugees to the Philippines.

The Israel Embassy in Manila says that while many countries turned their backs on the Jews, the Philippines did not.

"Manuel L. Quezon opened the doors of his country as he shared the same sentiments with the Frieder brothers, McNutt and Eisenhower on the right to live and it was simply the right thing to do to help their fellowmen who needed help," the embassy said in a statement Friday.

Related: Filipino hospitality saved 1,300 Jews

Quezon, meanwhile, knew the rescue would be a worthy precedent for the coming generations.

"The people of the Philippines will have in the future every reason to be glad that when the time of need came, their country was willing to extend a hand of welcome."

The rescue and the refugees' subsequent life in the Philippines, which afterwards was itself ravaged under the Japanese occupation, are told in a documentary that premiered at the Malacañan Palace on Thursday with President Aquino as host.

In his message during the screening of "Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust" produced by 3 Roads Communications, Aquino said the Jewish escape in Manila tells of the imperative of all men to take a stand against wrongdoing.

"The measure of our humanity is our ability to give of ourselves, even, and perhaps most importantly, when it hurts," he said.

The event was also graced by US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, Israel Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Adam Levene, Undersecretary for the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning office Manuel Quezon III and his family as well as Cabinet officials.

President Aquino is joined by Nini Quezon-Avanceña, daughter of the late President Manuel Quezon, during the screening of "Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust" in Malacañang on Thursday. Malacañang Photo Bureau/Ryan Lim

Producers Russel Hodge and Cynthia Scott said it took them two years to film the documentary, which they said, by far one of the most gratifying things they have accomplished in their lifetime.

The people behind the film and Jewish organizations also arranged for the donation of $2.5 million worth of prosthetics as well as raised about $1.4 million for victims of typhoon Yolanda that flattened out Eastern Visayas areas last November.