Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
1–10 of 17 posts
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#2"As Portugal's consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes faced a moral dilemma. Should he obey government orders or listen to his own conscience and supply Jews with the visas that would allow them to escape from advancing German forces? ... But his initiative also spelt the end of a diplomatic career under Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, and the rest of his life was spent in penury."
Sounds exactly like Chiune Sugihara's story:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiune_Sugihara
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/04/chiune-sugihar...
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#3There are so many stories like this that played out with events such as wide ranging as WWII, I had never heard this one before.
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#4"No-one really knows what went through his mind in those two or three days"
Actually, it's kinda known. The consul was very religious, and he believed he learned God's will during these days - to help people fleeing from Germans.
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#5There are so many stories like this that played out with events such as wide ranging as WWII, I had never heard this one before.
Yes... Even in Portugal he wasn't that well known, not until he was voted 3rd Greatest Portuguese(TM) some years ago: right after Portuguese 30+years dictator Salazar (his nemesis) and Salazar's "nemesis" Communist Party leader Alvaro Cunhal.
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#6The word "finally" makes it seem that Aristides Sousa Mendes work was not recognized by Portugal. Maybe it hadn't been officially recognized until now, but we are very proud of his actions.
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#7There is a bit more information on Aristides De Sousa Mendes on Yad Vashem's site:
https://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/mendes.html
His Wikipedia page is fascinating:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristides_de_Sousa_Mendes
There is even a small park dedicated to him in my hometown of Montreal (not far from where I used to live):
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#8"As Portugal's consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes faced a moral dilemma. Should he obey government orders or listen to his own conscience and supply Jews with the visas that would allow them to escape from advancing German forces? ... But his initiative also spelt the end of a diplomatic career under Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, and the rest of his life was spent in penury." Sounds exac…
From the wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristides_de_Sousa_Mendes#Enco...
"Sousa Mendes was listed in the Portuguese Consular and Diplomatic Yearbook until 1954.[107][108] After the one year punishment with half-pay, he received a monthly payment of 1,593 Portuguese escudos per month.[109][110][111] According to Rui Afonso, "although it was not a salary of a prince, one should not forget that at that time, in Portugal, the monthly salary of a school teacher was only 500 Escudos".[109] When he died, in 1954 he was receiving a monthly salary of 2,300 escudos."
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#9The word "finally" makes it seem that Aristides Sousa Mendes work was not recognized by Portugal. Maybe it hadn't been officially recognized until now, but we are very proud of his actions.
But not as proud as over Salazar.
Re: Portugal finally recognises consul who saved thousands from Holocaust
#10There are so many stories like this that played out with events such as wide ranging as WWII, I had never heard this one before.
Yes... Even in Portugal he wasn't that well known, not until he was voted 3rd Greatest Portuguese(TM) some years ago: right after Portuguese 30+years dictator Salazar (his nemesis) and Salazar's "nemesis" Communist Party leader Alvaro Cunhal.
> Even in Portugal he wasn't that well known, not until he was voted 3rd Greatest Portuguese(TM) some years ago
That doesn't sound coherent at all.