English
A first and unusual gesture was made by the Portuguese Parliament towards Aristides de Souza Mendes who was the former Consul General of Portugal in Bordeaux and his character can be compared to Oscar Schindler. During World War II, he saved thousands of Jews in France from the Nazi regime by secretly granting entry visas to Portugal. Something that was especially brave and not obvious at a time when rescuing Jews was considered a crime and cost every person his own life. Today, his name is commemorated on a board at the Pantheon in Lisbon alongside the coffins of historical figures, some of the most respected in Portugal. As Jews who have often been persecuted and wronged, such a gesture of national-level recognition by the Portuguese government of Aristides de Souza Mendes is particularly moving and proves once again how important it is for the Portuguese government to correct a historical injustice.
The Portuguese news website JN wrote about the inauguration of a board with the name of Souza Mendes at the Pantheon, about the honors ceremonies and events held in his honor in Lisbon and Bordeaux as well as about the life of de Souza Mendes and we bring the main points.
Former Portuguese Consul General in Bordeaux, Aristides de Souza Mendes, received on 19 October 2021 the Medal of Honor of the National Pantheon in Lisbon. At the beginning of World War II, without the knowledge of the then Prime Minister of Portugal, the dictator Salazar, the diplomat Mendes granted thousands of visas to Jews and other refugees. “The justice that has not been done to him in life will be done by the Council of the Republic now,” said Portuguese Congressman Pedro Delgado Alves. “He knew how to be on the right side and save millions of lives,” said the socialist congressman, the producer of the team that prepared the ceremony. “This is one of the rarest cases of a person who manages to create a consensus almost unanimously.”
The ceremony was attended by the President, the Prime Minister of Portugal, the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the family members of Aristides de Souza Mendes. The ceremony unveiled the board with the name of Aristides de Souza Mendes hanging in a hall where well-known Portuguese public figures are buried: General Umberto Delgado, the poet Sophia de Melo Brainer, the writer Aquilino Ribeiro and the footballer Osbio da Silva Pereira. This is a first-of-its-kind tribute given by Parliament at the Pantheon.
Parliament decided to honor de Souza’s wish and not transfer his body to the Pantheon in Lisbon. “I wanted to be buried in my homeland, with my family,” explains about de Souza Delgado Alves. The diplomat died in 1954 and was buried in the Cargal do Sal Cemetery, Visau County.
Delgado Alves regrets that this tribute to Souza Mendes is only now taking place and recalls that because of the disobedience to Salazar, the former consul received proper recognition only after April 25, 1974.
Delgado Alves reveals that the diplomat’s family got a great sense of justice. One of the family members, Silviorio Sousa Mendes, joined the delegation to the hall where the voard was unveiled.
The President of Portugal, Marcelo Revello de Souza and the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Frau Rodriguez, delivered moving speeches and at the end of the ceremony signed the Medal of Honor of the National Pantheon. The tribute also included the choir performance of the Sao Carlos National Theater and the screening of a film about the character of Souza Mendes.
At the same time, in France as well, and especially in Bordeaux, the National Pantheon’s tribute to a diplomat was celebrated at a number of official events. The Archbishop of Bordeaux made a Mass in honor of the former consul at the local cathedral. The tribute was also joined by the City Council of Bordeaux and inaugurated a street named after Aristides de Souza Mendes and in the nearby town of Mendes, the documentary “Aristides de Souza Mendes” was screened. An official ceremony was also held in Bordeaux in honor of the statue of de Souza Mendes.
In 1940, de Souza Mendes was responsible for issuing visas to refugees persecuted by the Nazi regime that invaded and occupied France at the time. The visas allowed Jews and other refugees to enter Portugal and escape from the extreme right and Hitler’s regime. The exact number of visas issued is unknown, but there are hundreds and even thousands.
The initiative to award the Pantheon honor to Aristide de Souza Mendes came from unofficial parliamentarian Joaquin Qatar Moriera and was unanimously approved by all MPs. In July, at the initiative of the Union “Fighting for Israel”, the Republic Council received a statue of the diplomat.
This gesture towards the former consul who saved hundreds of Jews in World War II symbolizes the importance of the Portuguese Parliament’s treatment of the issue of Jews and the treatment of them in the past. That is why in 2015, the Portuguese government issued an amendment to the Portuguese Citizenship Law that allowed tens of thousands of Israeli citizens affiliated with the deportation from Spain and portugal to obtain Portuguese citizenship which is European citizenship for all intents and purposes.
On our website, you will find all the information regarding the issuance of Portuguese citizenship and you can also join the Facebook group “Over the Rainbow Portugal” where we update you on all the important issues concerning Portugal.
