Opening of the Museum of Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul who issued lifelong visas

“This is my mother's passport with the signature of Aristides de Souza Mendes.”“As Cookie Fischer van den Bergh says upon discovering the new museum that opened this weekend in memory of the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux who saved thousands of refugees from Nazi persecution.

“It's very touching to me.” because “My mom didn't tell me anything.”This woman in her seventies, a retired university professor, admitted to Agence France-Presse that she had recently discovered the story of this leak.

Thanks to a Portuguese consul's visa issued in June 1940, his mother, now deceased, was able to leave the German-invaded Netherlands, go to Porto, in northern Portugal, on a fishing boat from southern France, and then go on to the United States.

“He is an exceptional man!”“This is what Jean-Jacques Speyer, a 76-year-old former Belgian engineer, said as he tried to find his grandfather among the thousands of survivor names inscribed on a wall at the museum’s entrance.

Like the descendants of refugees and the family of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who died 70 years ago, hundreds of people paid tribute to the former consul on Friday, on the occasion of the opening of the museum dedicated to him, housed in his former palace in Cabanas de Viriato, in central Portugal.

“I'm really grateful” For everything he has done, proudly affirms Antonio Souza Mendes (74 years old), one of the descendants of the former diplomat, who has long been fighting to rehabilitate the memory of his predecessor.

pen and stamp

Often compared to German industrialist Oskar Schindler, who saved hundreds of Jews from deportation, Mr. Souza Mendes was recognized in 1966. “Righteous among the nations” Through the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, which commemorates the genocide of the Jewish people during World War II.

But in his country, this recognition came later. After his reintegration into the diplomatic corps after his death in the late 1980s and his enshrinement in the Pantheon in 2021, the opening of this museum is another step in perpetuating his memory.

When he learned of the persecution of the Nazis, he sought to fight with his weapons. pen and stamp“It’s a great honor,” notes Antonio de Souza Mendes, who barely knows his grandfather.

However, his gesture brought him setbacks with his government, led by dictator Oliveira Salazar, who prevented consuls from granting entry visas to “foreigners of unspecified nationalities”, “Stateless” Or to “Jewish”This is due to Portugal's neutrality during the conflict.

I called to order several times, “This Catholic man, very religious.”He preferred to follow his conscience, despite the consequences for his career, explains historian Margarida Magalhães Ramalho, of Nova University of Lisbon.

Duty to send

In June 1940, as German forces advanced, the consul stationed in Bordeaux faced many desperate captives. “Children, pregnant women, and the elderly can be helped by the plug.”then “It creates a real chain of visa issuance.”In order to allow them to escape, mostly to America, the historian says.

Within a few days, the consul issued visas to all refugees who requested them, regardless of their nationality or religion, thus saving nearly 30,000 people, about half of them Jews, according to historians' estimates.

Mr. Sousa Mendes was then immediately recalled to Lisbon and dismissed from his duties. Having fallen from grace, this father of 14 children ended his days in 1954 in poverty.

“My grandfather is no longer here, but his message remains.”“His grandson remarks, thinking he has a duty to send today.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Portuguese Antonio Guterres, welcomed the example. “Courage and compassion” Written by Mr. Souza Mendes, in a message published on the occasion of the opening of the museum, calling on people to follow his example in the fight “Against discrimination, intolerance and hatred”.