Last month, the Embassy of Israel and the Embassy of Hungary, in cooperation with the University of Santo Tomas, mounted an exhibition titled “Beyond Duty” dedicated to Holocaust survivors and diplomats recognized as Righteous Among the Nations, with a memorial ceremony for victims of the Holocaust. The exhibition, first debuted in Jerusalem on January 27, 2018 to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It honors Holocaust survivors and the righteous diplomats who risked their lives and the safety of their families to rescue hundreds of Jews.
Following the Manila exhibit opening, Israeli Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau, and Hungarian Ambassador József Bencze led a candle lighting ceremony. During the event, Ambassador Matityau and the National Information Officer of the United Nations Information Centre Manila, Teresa Debuque also presented the winner of the Butterfly Art Contest, Ysabella Perez. The contest expands on the Holocaust Museum Houston’s 1996 Butterfly Project, which was intended to commemorate the death of 1.5 million children who were victims of the Holocaust by inviting students from across the globe to express their empathy and hope in the form of a butterfly.
The Butterfly Art Contest and its namesake project drew inspiration from “The Butterfly,” a 1944 poem by Pavel Friedmann that illustrated the conditions of the prisoner camps. The display of butterflies connects new generations of youth to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust.
“Son of Saul,” an Oscar-winning film by Director László Nemes, was screened following the messages of the Ambassador of Israel and the Ambassador of Hungary. The Hungarian drama film is set in the Auschwitz concentration camp in October 1944. It immerses the audience into the life of Saul Ausländer, a Jewish prisoner forced to assist the Nazis who finds the body of a boy he considers his son.