Eighty years ago in October 1943, the German occupying power in Denmark orchestrated a raid to capture and deport Danish Jews to Nazi extermination camps, forcing more than 7,000 men, women and children into hiding.

Many among the Danish people reacted promptly and jointly to this raid by organizing risky boat rescue acts to bring their Jewish countrymen to safety in Sweden.

Due to swift actions and agency of the Danish Jewish community, and with the help from ordinary Danes, 95 percent of the Danish Jews were rescued in October 1943, a light in an otherwise dark period in world history.

The Philippines had taken similar action already in 1938.

Under the leadership of President Manuel Quezon, the Philippines offered sanctuary to Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust through an open-door policy.

The policy urged Filipinos to welcome refugees and aid them, extending a lifeline to 1,300 Jewish refugees at a time when too many countries kept their borders closed.

On Wednesday, the collective acts were commemorated at the Quezon Memorial Circle with Ambassador Franz-Michael Mellbin, Israeli Ambassador Ilan Fluss, Executive Director of the Jewish Association of the Philippines Lee Blumenthal, and Vice Mayor of Quezon City Government Gian Sotto.

The commemoration is not to proclaim heroic deeds but to remind of the values that prevailed at the time: humanity, solidarity, compassion, and civic courage, as well as the continued relevance of these values in the world today.

Best tributes went to all victims of these dark times—those who died and those who survived, preserving their memory to avoid committing the mistakes of the past.