Helena Benitez and former PWU student and Jewish refugee Margot Cassel Pins reunite after more than seven decades.
Seven-year-old Margot Cassel Pins came to the Philippines with her parents and 1,300 Jewish refugees who were given safe passage by President Manuel Quezon in 1940. He was one of very few heads of state who not only was courageous enough to go against the tide of anti-Semitism, but also did the right thing by offering “open door” visas to Jews being persecuted in Europe in the years leading up to World War II. In fact, most of the world turned a blind eye to the atrocities that were being committed in Europe, when being a Jew meant losing one’s home, business, and even one’s life as hundreds of thousands were carted off to concentration camps.
Margot and her cousin Lotte entered the Philippine Women’s University as grade 3 and grade 7 students respectively, because it was known as the first progressive and non-traditional school in the country. The pair was received with open arms by their classmates; not once were they bullied or insulted for being Jewish. They learned English, Philippine history, folk songs and native dances together with their classmates. Margot vividly remembers that it was her 27-year-old teacher and grade school principal, Naty Osorio, together with the other PWU teachers, who not only made her feel welcome but also treated her lovingly.
Bahay Kubo was the first song she learned and it introduced her to the local vegetables. Her first hero was our very own Jose Rizal. Furthermore, the educator made sure that the young girls would learn how to waltz so that they would be able to dance gracefully as it was part of their European culture.
During the Japanese Occupation and the bombing of Manila that left the city one of the most devastated during World War II, it was also Osorio who gently talked to each of her students to help them articulate their apprehensions and understand their fears since they were witnesses to the war’s trauma.
Margot graduated from PWU in 1944 and went on to study at the American High School in Manila. It was in the Philippines where she met her soon-to-be husband, American soldier Arnie Pins. She proceeded to the USA and attended Barnard College in New York from 1949 to 1951. Moving to Chicago, she received a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. With Arnie and their three children, they immigrated to Israel in 1974 because, “… I wanted to raise my children hoping to prevent them from further persecution as Jews, living among my people.” She was widowed in 1978 and remarried in 2001.
Seventy-five years later, on the occasion of PWU’s 96th founding anniversary, Margot came back to the Philippines for the first time and spoke before 500 students, faculty, alumni, and guests. She fondly remembers “Mama B” or Francisca Tirona Benitez, the school’s main founder, and shares her childhood experiences. “As a child I experienced the ‘open hearts’ at this university —from the teachers and co-students, as well as the (Philippine) government, which helped us restore our family’s dignity. These lessons and experiences during my formative years made the foundation in me — giving me a sense of dignity, independence, and courage in my beliefs.”
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The day before the PWU anniversary, I had the opportunity to meet Margot at an intimate lunch hosted by my godmother, Helena Benitez, with Israeli Ambassador Ben Matityau and the Benitez family in Miranila (the art-filled ancestral home). I noticed that Margot had very clear, vibrant eyes as well as an erect posture that belied her 84 years. She not only hugged me but kissed my right hand as we both became teary-eyed during this poignant meeting.
