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. With the nazi invasion of france came an order from portugal that no jews or dissidents. Two other portuguese diplomats, carlos sampaio garrido and alberto teixeira branquinho, acted in a limited way along similar lines. Sousa mendes saved more people than schindler but died a pariah. Apr 08, 2011 the strain caused the fracturing of his family, and in 1954 sousa mendes died in poverty and obscurity. Aug 04, 2016 portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds.
Portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds. Jun 17, 20 simon wiesenthal center october 20th, 1986. Portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving. His disobedience again angered the portuguese government. He studied law in the centros regions capital, coimbra, and obtained his degree in 1908. With god against man, documentary by semyon pinkhasov u. 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. The guardian reports that his final wish was that his name be restored. The government, embarrassed by the bessa lopes report, suppressed its existence for more than a decade. Five sousa mendes visa recipients and their families were on hand to welcome the president, and representatives of the sousa mendes foundation.
Sousa mendes saved more people than schindler but died a. With vitor norte, carlos paulo, joao nunes monteiro, leonor seixas. After filling posts in various capitals including the united states and europe, he was posted to bordeaux, france, as the portuguese consulgeneral. The book begins with mendess childhood, family, and career. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt he. 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.
However, mendes had a keen sense of right and wrong, coupled with solid christian values. Today, mendess name is engraved in gold in the pantheon of the righteous among the nations. He was dismissed from the diplomatic service and was denied retirement and severance benefits. He was a portuguese diplomat who served his country for 30. In addition, we learn about portugals neutral policy of the time. He issued visas to 30,000 refugees, the majority of whom were jews fleeing the nazis, helping them to avoid certain death. He was a man who was truly alone during one of the darkest moments in history. 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. Born into an aristocratic portuguese family, mendes chose a diplomatic career for himself. As the portuguese consulgeneral in bordeaux, france, during world war ii, sousa mendes was responsible for saving the lives of thousands of people. The views expressed here are his own unless otherwise noted. Parallels descendants of jews who escaped nazioccupied france recently gathered to.
Catala cestina deutsch espanol esperanto euskara francais ido. News people profiles sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt he a household name too. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt. Sousa mendes left bordeaux on july 8 and returned to lisbon, portugal. April 1954 in lissabon war ein portugiesischer diplomat. In portugal, a protector of a people is honored the new. Louisphilippe mendes, huffington post, 18 april 2012.