In portugal, a protector of a people is honored the new york times. At the time of the german invasion of france he was the portuguese consul to bordeaux, a catholic gentleman of aristocratic origins in late middle. Parallels descendants of jews who escaped nazioccupied france recently gathered to. Increase brain power, focus music, reduce anxiety, binaural and isochronic beats duration. The german occupation prompted tens of thousands of refugees, including thousands of jews, to flee southward from the northern departements in the hope of exiting france via the only remaining avenue of escape, the southern border into spain and portugal, and. His disobedience again angered the portuguese government. Most sought to enter spain, proceed to portugal, and then escape by ship. With bernard le coq, nanou garcia, lionel lingelser, roger souza. Holocaust savior, sousa mendes, commemorated on the anniversary of his death. The bravery of a portuguese war hero resonates today. Having graduated in law, in the university of coimbra, in 1907, aristides unlike his father, who was a judge and his twin brother, who embarked in politics chooses to follow a consular career, mainly connected to administrative aspects, in particular the. Be it in direct german control, axis countries or even in neighboring relatively safer places, jews were being hunted or under threat. Two other portuguese diplomats, carlos sampaio garrido and alberto teixeira branquinho, acted in a. They were jews and nonjews, public figures and private citizens, most with passports but many without.
Carlos 19221999, sebastian 19232006, and john paul abranches 19322009. The sousa mendes visa recipients came from fortynine countries and all walks of life. Born into an aristocratic portuguese family, mendes chose a diplomatic career for himself. Sy scholfield quotes from a good man in evil times. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt he. Portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds. The museums collections document the fate of holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more.
After filling posts in various capitals including the united states and europe, he was posted to bordeaux, france, as the portuguese consulgeneral. Our plan is to renovate and refurbish the property and transform it into a humanread more. Aug 04, 2016 portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds. Sousa mendess acts of private resistance earned him salazars wrath. The sousa mendes foundation is interested in tracking the fates of all visa recipients, no matter their stories. Sousa mendes, with god against men the international. Today his house is turning to ruins, but with the help of facebook members we can save it. With an additional subsidy from the ministry, the foundation was just able to buy back the sousa mendes family home with the objective of creating the sousa mendes museum, in permanent tribute to the heroic acts of. April 1954 in lissabon war ein portugiesischer diplomat. Five sousa mendes visa recipients and their families were on hand to welcome the president, and representatives of the sousa mendes foundation.
The guardian reports that his final wish was that his name be restored. Sousa mendes, portugals consul in bordeaux when germany. Following the occupation of france in the summer of 1940, foreign consulates were faced with large numbers of jews, desperately trying to obtain visas in order to leave nazi dominated territories. He issued visas to 30,000 refugees, the majority of whom were jews fleeing the nazis, helping them to avoid certain death. Memorable quotes and exchanges from movies, tv series and more. He was a portuguese diplomat who served his country for 30 years. Between june 16 and 23, 1940, he frantically issued portuguese visas free of charge, to over 30,000 refugees seeking to escape the nazi terror, 12,000 of whom were jews. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt. Those attributes led him to openly defy his government to save the lives of thousands of people. He was dismissed from the diplomatic service and was denied retirement and severance benefits. His twin brother cesar, born a few minutes earlier, had a july 18 birthday. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app.
However, mendes had a keen sense of right and wrong, coupled with solid christian values. By 1940 the conditions for jews in europe were getting worse by the day. His title of ambassador was posthumously restored in 1988, all charges against him were officially dropped, and by 2001 the sousa mendes home was handed over to. The strain caused the fracturing of his family, and in 1954 sousa mendes died in poverty and obscurity. Today, mendess name is engraved in gold in the pantheon of the righteous among the nations. Sousa mendes left bordeaux on july 8 and returned to lisbon, portugal. As the portuguese consulgeneral in bordeaux, france, during world war ii, sousa mendes was responsible for saving the lives of thousands of people. In portugal, a protector of a people is honored the new. In order to cross the french border into spain, the refugees needed. At the time, portugal was under the dictatorial rule of antonio salazar, and even though it was declared as officially neutral in the war, salazar issued a directive called circular 14 to all of portugals diplomats, instructing them to. Search below to view digital records and find material that you can access at our library and at the shapell center.
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