Carlos 19221999, sebastian 19232006, and john paul abranches 19322009. Five sousa mendes visa recipients and their families were on hand to welcome the president, and representatives of the sousa mendes foundation. Aug 04, 2016 portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds. Sousa mendes, portugals consul in bordeaux when germany. With bernard le coq, nanou garcia, lionel lingelser, roger souza. He issued visas to 30,000 refugees, the majority of whom were jews fleeing the nazis, helping them to avoid certain death. Sousa mendes left bordeaux on july 8 and returned to lisbon, portugal.
After filling posts in various capitals including the united states and europe, he was posted to bordeaux, france, as the portuguese consulgeneral. Most sought to enter spain, proceed to portugal, and then escape by ship. Born into an aristocratic portuguese family, mendes chose a diplomatic career for himself. His disobedience again angered the portuguese government. Today his house is turning to ruins, but with the help of facebook members we can save it. Sy scholfield quotes from a good man in evil times. 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. By 1940 the conditions for jews in europe were getting worse by the day. 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. Holocaust savior, sousa mendes, commemorated on the anniversary of his death. Be it in direct german control, axis countries or even in neighboring relatively safer places, jews were being hunted or under threat.
Sousa mendess acts of private resistance earned him salazars wrath. He was dismissed from the diplomatic service and was denied retirement and severance benefits. Bordeaux, france may 1940 on may 10, 1940, germany invaded france and swiftly advanced south through the country. In order to cross the french border into spain, the refugees needed. 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. Increase brain power, focus music, reduce anxiety, binaural and isochronic beats duration. The sousa mendes foundation is interested in tracking the fates of all visa recipients, no matter their stories. 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.
The guardian reports that his final wish was that his name be restored. 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. 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. Portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt. In portugal, a protector of a people is honored the new york times. They were jews and nonjews, public figures and private citizens, most with passports but many without. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt he. The sousa mendes visa recipients came from fortynine countries and all walks of life. April 1954 in lissabon war ein portugiesischer diplomat.
However, mendes had a keen sense of right and wrong, coupled with solid christian values. The museums collections document the fate of holocaust victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others through artifacts, documents, photos, films, books, personal stories, and more. 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. He was a portuguese diplomat who served his country for 30 years. As the portuguese consulgeneral in bordeaux, france, during world war ii, sousa mendes was responsible for saving the lives of thousands of people. Two other portuguese diplomats, carlos sampaio garrido and alberto teixeira branquinho, acted in a. His twin brother cesar, born a few minutes earlier, had a july 18 birthday. As the portuguese consul stationed in bordeaux, france, he found himself confronted in may and june of 1940 with the reality of many thousands of refugees outside the portuguese consulate attempting to escape the horrors of the nazi war machine. Our plan is to renovate and refurbish the property and transform it into a humanread more. Those attributes led him to openly defy his government to save the lives of thousands of people. In portugal, a protector of a people is honored the new. Memorable quotes and exchanges from movies, tv series and more. The strain caused the fracturing of his family, and in 1954 sousa mendes died in poverty and obscurity. 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.
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