PH Embassy in Israel Pays Respects to "Manilaner" Max Weissler

TEL AVIV, 20 FEBRUARY 2023 - Max Weissler, renowned Holocaust survivor and one of two remaining “Manilaners” (the Jews who fled the Holocaust and given refuge in the Philippines by President Manuel L. Quezon in 1941) in Israel, has died. He was 93.

The Philippine Embassy in Israel joined the family and loved ones of Mr. Weissler in paying their last respects to the Jewish patriarch and former Pasay City resident in Hod Hasharon on 20 February.

Deputy Chief of Mission Anthony Achilles L. Mandap personally handed over Ambassador Pedro Laylo, Jr.'s letter of condolence to Mr. Weissler’s children, Mr. Danny Weissler and Ms. Tova Weissler-Chansky. Ambassador Laylo, Jr. cited Mr. Weissler’s pivotal role in history and shared the deep affection between Mr. Weissler and the Philippine Embassy in Tel Aviv and its personnel.

Mr. Weissler arrived in Manila with his family in 1941 at the age of 11, after a long escape from Breslau, Nazi Germany (now Wrocław, Poland). The Weisslers were one of about 1,300 Jewish refugees who fled to the Philippines and came to be known as “Manilaners,” after the port at which they first docked upon their arrival.

The Manilaners credited then-President Manuel Quezon, who worked with US High Commissioner Paul McNutt to allow the Philippines to accept the refugees, for saving their lives; his humanitarian move came to be known as the “Open Door” policy.

Young Max grew up in Pasay, where he recalls being nicknamed “mestisong bangus” by his Filipino playmates. He also often introduced himself as a “kanto boy, laking Pasay.” After surviving the Japanese Occupation and the Battle of Manila, he continued to live in the Philippines until he enlisted in the US Army to fight in the Korean War. He worked for a shipping company thereafter, where he met his Israeli wife, Esther. The couple settled in Israel and had two children, Danny and Tova.

“Max was a symbol … [and] also a friend,” Ambassador Laylo said in his eulogy. “He would bring history to life for us. He opened the doors of his own home … to share photos and stories of his life. We could feel his love for our country in every story he told.”

In response, and in grateful acknowledgment of President Quezon’s historic gesture, his daughter Tova insists “we would not be here if it were not for you (the Philippines).”

Mr. Weissler is survived by his two children, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. END