Portugal: Aristides De Sousa Mendez
The Beyond Duty exhibition is dedicated to the Righteous Among the Nations
Portugal: Aristides De Sousa Mendes
“I would rather stand with God against man than with man against God.”- Aristides de Sousa Mendes
With the occupation of Western Europe by Nazi Germany in the spring and summer of 1940, thousands of refugees tried to flee to the Iberian Peninsula in an attempt to find refuge. The Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, permitted holders of visas for overseas to transit through Portugal, but closed the borders to those without visas. Some 15,000-20,000 Jewish refugees were able to enter Portugal, and Jewish organizations working in Lisbon, such as the Joint, HIAS-HICEM, and the Jewish Agency, facilitated the refugees’ departure. In 1943-1944, Portugal rescued several hundred Portuguese Jews from Greece and France, but did not help 4,303 Dutch Jews of Portuguese origin, who were consequently deported to the extermination camps.
Following the German invasion of France in May 1940, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portugal’s consul general in Bordeaux, France, was faced with thousands of refugees congregating around his consulate. Seeing their terrible plight, Sousa Mendes decided to disobey his government’s explicit instructions, and issued transit visas to everyone in need, waiving the visa fees for those who could not pay. Setting up an “assembly line process,” Sousa Mendes issued visas to several thousand refugees. When Lisbon learned of Sousa Mendes’ actions, he was summarily ordered to return home. He was brought before a disciplinary panel and dismissed from the Foreign Office, leaving him destitute and unable to support his large family. Sousa Mendes died penniless in 1954. Only in 1988 did Portugal’s government grant him total rehabilitation.
Aristides de Sousa Mendes was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1966.
Portugal: Aristides De Sousa Mendez
The Beyond Duty exhibition is dedicated to the Righteous Among the Nations
Portugal: Aristides De Sousa Mendes
“I would rather stand with God against man than with man against God.”- Aristides de Sousa Mendes
With the occupation of Western Europe by Nazi Germany in the spring and summer of 1940, thousands of refugees tried to flee to the Iberian Peninsula in an attempt to find refuge. The Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, permitted holders of visas for overseas to transit through Portugal, but closed the borders to those without visas. Some 15,000-20,000 Jewish refugees were able to enter Portugal, and Jewish organizations working in Lisbon, such as the Joint, HIAS-HICEM, and the Jewish Agency, facilitated the refugees’ departure. In 1943-1944, Portugal rescued several hundred Portuguese Jews from Greece and France, but did not help 4,303 Dutch Jews of Portuguese origin, who were consequently deported to the extermination camps.
Following the German invasion of France in May 1940, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Portugal’s consul general in Bordeaux, France, was faced with thousands of refugees congregating around his consulate. Seeing their terrible plight, Sousa Mendes decided to disobey his government’s explicit instructions, and issued transit visas to everyone in need, waiving the visa fees for those who could not pay. Setting up an “assembly line process,” Sousa Mendes issued visas to several thousand refugees. When Lisbon learned of Sousa Mendes’ actions, he was summarily ordered to return home. He was brought before a disciplinary panel and dismissed from the Foreign Office, leaving him destitute and unable to support his large family. Sousa Mendes died penniless in 1954. Only in 1988 did Portugal’s government grant him total rehabilitation.
Aristides de Sousa Mendes was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1966.