Haven or Hell? Jews in the Philippines During World War II (Hybrid)

For years, Sandy Lanman knew her grandmother Elsie had escaped Germany to the Philippines only to lose her husband Gunther in the brutal Battle of Manila at the end of World War II. Aside from a few photos and family stories, she knew little else. In 2019, a serendipitous encounter on Facebook led her to Gunther’s great-nephew and a trove of photos of Elsie and Gunther in Manila. The discovery sparked her interest in the history of this little-known Jewish sanctuary and its forgotten heroes. Through film, photos and Elsie’s own words, Sandy tells the story of the rescue of 1,300 mostly German Jews and the terrors they faced under the Japanese during World War II. She reveals her grandmother's surprising role in the history of that period and how she and other Jews found sanctuary in Manila.

Sandy Lanman began her journey in genealogy in the late 1990s, when she set out to find her biological grandmother, who’d given her late mother up for adoption in Germany in 1928. Her mission was accomplished in five months, inspiring her to research her roots more deeply and find living family around the world, some separated by the Holocaust. Sandy believes her experience as a news reporter at The Home News in the 1970s and ’80 informs her technique and tenacity. She also has been an award-winning public relations professional in the arts, public television and higher education. More recently, she has worked as a PR consultant  and volunteers as a communicator with the Friends of the East Brunswick Environmental Commission in addition to presenting programs on genealogy topics.

Co-sponsored by the EB Friends of the Library, AAPI of East Brunswick and East Brunswick Hadassah.