Aristides de Sousa Mendes: The Portuguese Diplomat Who Defied Orders to Help Thousands of People Escape

Aristides de Sousa Mendes: The Portuguese Diplomat Who Defied Orders to Help Thousands of People Escape

Today I want to find out a little bit about Aristides de Sousa Mendes. He was a Portuguese diplomat whose decision to defy his own government helped thousands of refugees to escape from France during the Second World War.

Aristides was born on the 19th of July 1885 in Cabanas de Viriato in Portugal. He had a twin brother named César.

The brothers studied law at the University of Coimbra, and Aristides graduated in 1907. That following year, he married Maria Angelina Coelho, and they would eventually have a large family.

Aristides entered the Portuguese diplomatic service and spent much of his career working abroad. His postings included British Guiana, Zanzibar, Brazil, the United States, Spain and Belgium.

In 1938, he was appointed Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux in south-western France.

During the Second World War Portugal remained neutral, but it offered a possible escape route for refugees trying to leave Europe. If people could cross Spain and reach Portugal, many hoped that they could then travel to safer countries.

However, the Portuguese government under António de Oliveira Salazar had introduced restrictions that controlled which refugees could get visas.

In November 1939, a government instruction known as Circular 14 placed particular restrictions on several groups and required many visa applications to receive prior approval from Lisbon.

Sousa Mendes began to struggle with these rules.

He began to issue visas in cases where official permission had not been granted, and he was warned by the Portuguese authorities about it.

Then, in May and June 1940, the situation became much more desperate.

German forces were advancing through France, Paris fell and enormous numbers of refugees were travelling south, hoping to escape before it was too late.

Bordeaux became crowded with frightened people searching for a way out.

Among those Sousa Mendes encountered was Rabbi Chaim Kruger, who had escaped from Belgium with his family. Sousa Mendes offered to help them, but Kruger reportedly encouraged him to consider the many other refugees who were also desperately seeking visas.

Sousa Mendes faced an extraordinary moral decision.

In June 1940, he decided that he could no longer follow the instructions he had been given that stopped him from helping people whose lives were in danger.

He began issuing visas on a huge scale without discriminating according to nationality or religion.

His family, members of his staff and others helped him process the growing number of applications.

Sousa Mendes also travelled to the Portuguese consulate in Bayonne, where he continued helping refugees. Even after Portuguese officials attempted to stop him, he carried on issuing documents and assisting people trying to cross into Spain and eventually Portugal.

Exactly how many people received visas because of Sousa Mendes is still debated by historians. Claims that he personally saved 30,000 people have been questioned, but surviving records confirm that thousands of visas were issued, while other documents from the chaotic weeks of June 1940 have not survived.

Whatever the exact number was, his actions allowed thousands of people to escape from occupied France.

There were serious consequences.

Sousa Mendes was recalled to Portugal and was subjected to disciplinary proceedings for disobeying government orders.

In October 1940, Salazar punished him and that effectively brought his diplomatic career to an end.

His financial circumstances gradually became extremely difficult, and Sousa Mendes spent his later years trying to clear his name.

His wife Angelina died in 1948, and Aristides died in Lisbon on the 3rd of April 1954 at the age of 68. Sadly he did not live to see his reputation restored.

Recognition finally came after his death.

In 1966, Yad Vashem recognised Aristides de Sousa Mendes as Righteous Among the Nations for helping Jewish people escape persecution.

Following the end of Portugal's dictatorship, efforts were made to restore his reputation. In 1988, the Portuguese parliament formally rehabilitated him and restored him to the diplomatic service posthumously.

Faced with thousands of frightened people, he decided that following orders wasn’t as important as helping people who were in danger.