Portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving. This article about a person or group of people is a stub. Most sought to enter spain, proceed to portugal, and then escape by ship. Two other portuguese diplomats, carlos sampaio garrido and alberto teixeira branquinho, acted in a. However, mendes had a keen sense of right and wrong, coupled with solid christian values. Meanwhile, the french government had relocated to bordeaux and had been followed by thousands of refugees flooding into the city hoping to. Born into an aristocratic portuguese family, mendes chose a diplomatic career for himself. Aristides sousa mendes a sua vida em filme imagens. His disobedience again angered the portuguese government. In portugal, a protector of a people is honored the new. Our plan is to renovate and refurbish the property and transform it into a humanread more. He was a portuguese diplomat who served his country for 30 years. 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.
Good morning music vr 360 positive vibrations 528hz the deepest healing boost your vibration. He was dismissed from the diplomatic service and was denied retirement and severance benefits. The strain caused the fracturing of his family, and in 1954 sousa mendes died in poverty and obscurity. 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. Parallels descendants of jews who escaped nazioccupied france recently gathered to. Today his house is turning to ruins, but with the help of facebook members we can save it. 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. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt he.
Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. 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. Portuguese diplomat saves refugees from nazi germany i. 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.
They were jews and nonjews, public figures and private citizens, most with passports but many without. The sousa mendes visa recipients came from fortynine countries and all walks of life. Euro aristides of sousa mendes manage my collection. Sousa mendes, with god against men the international. Today, mendess name is engraved in gold in the pantheon of the righteous among the nations. Bordeaux, france may 1940 on may 10, 1940, germany invaded france and swiftly advanced south through the country. Increase brain power, focus music, reduce anxiety, binaural and isochronic beats duration. Franco feared portugals ties with england, and cunningly assessed the. Those attributes led him to openly defy his government to save the lives of thousands of people.
With bernard le coq, nanou garcia, lionel lingelser, roger souza. Two other portuguese diplomats, carlos sampaio garrido and alberto teixeira branquinho, acted in a limited way along similar lines. 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. Sousa mendes saved more lives than schindler so why isnt. But the nazi behemoth went its evil way, and did not interfere with the torrent of. 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.
Five sousa mendes visa recipients and their families were on hand to welcome the president, and representatives of the sousa mendes foundation. The sousa mendes foundation is interested in tracking the fates of all visa recipients, no matter their stories. 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. 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. After filling posts in various capitals including the united states and europe, he was posted to bordeaux, france, as the portuguese consulgeneral. In order to cross the french border into spain, the refugees needed. Aug 04, 2016 portugals schindler is remembered, decades after his lifesaving deeds.
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