2. The power of a paper & a stamp : Aristides de Sousa Mendes

History is replete with examples of unwarranted individuals donning the roles of heroes with sheer grit and some madness attached to their thoughts. In almost all such cases there is defiance of some central order. When it is a story associated with World War I or II, it has to be associated with guns, revolvers or any other weapon. The heroism of Aristides de Sousa Mendes was not associated with any weapon but with a rubber stamp.

When the Germans (read Nazis) overran France from the North in 1940, most of the Jews tried to escape from South i.e. to Spain and Portugal. Portugal, officially neutral, yet unofficially pro-Hitler and under the dictatorial rule of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, issued a directive – the infamous “Circular 14″ – to all its diplomats to deny safe haven to refugees, including explicitly Jews, Russians, and stateless persons who could not freely return to their countries of origin; in simple sense of today, visas were to be denied to Jews.

Our hero was the Portuguese consul general stationed in Bordeaux, France.  He was born on 19-July 1885 in Cabanas de Viriato near Viseu. Son of  Maria Angelina Ribeiro de Abranches and the judge José de Sousa Mendes, he graduated in Law along with his twin brother César from the University of Coimbra. In 1908 he married his cousin Angelina, who would be the mother of his 14 children (some records say 15). He began his diplomatic career quite young and in 1910 he became consul of Demerara in the British Guiana. He worked as a consul in the British Guiana, in Zanzibar, in Brazil, in the United States (San Francisco and Boston), in Spain (Vigo), in Luxemburg, in Belgium and finally in France (Bordeaux). He was a family man and a patriarch who has always had his wife and children nearby, providing them university education along with painting, drawing and music classes. One of his sons once said: “We had a true chamber orchestra in our home and we regularly invited persons to watch our concerts. We played Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and so on.”

He found himself confronted in June of 1940 with thousands of refugees outside the Portuguese consulate trying to escape the horrors of the Nazis. They were in desperate need of visas to get out of France, and a Portuguese visa would allow them safe passage through Spain to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where they could find liberty to travel to other parts of the globe. Typical to such a scenario, he was in a big dilemma. On one hand, he had his career diplomacy which he risked loosing forever if he did not toe to the lines of the diktats of his country and on the other hand he had the plight towards humanity. A sea of individuals which he saw flocked at the gates of his consulate shall be dead in few days if he did not do something.

He discussed with his wife and categorically shared the fact that he would be overthrown from service. What ensured next was creation of an important chapter of history. Close to 30000 visas were issued by Mendes which included 10000 Jews. “If thousands of Jews are suffering because of one Christian Hitler, surely one Christian may may suffer for so many Jews”, he said. Not surprisingly, he was punished. Job was first to go but a rigorous (read torturous) disciplinary action followed. His entire family was disgraced. Sometimes later, they landed up in the community centre of the Jews refugee camp in Portugal. Astute poverty followed and he died in 1954. Each of his children were denied University education.  The family’s ancestral home, “Casa do Passal,” was repossessed by the bank and eventually sold to cover debts. Once a recognized family of Portugal was reduced to a heap of disgrace.

Before his death, Sousa Mendes asked his children to clear his name and have the legitimate honour of the family restored. His sons and daughters, along with their fought for decades to have his deeds posthumously recognized. The first recognition came in 1966 from Israel, which declared him to be a “Righteous Among the Nations.” In 1986, the United States Congress issued a proclamation honouring his heroic act. Later he was finally recognized by Portugal, when its President Mario Soares apologized to the Sousa Mendes family and the Portuguese Parliament promoted him posthumously to the rank of Ambassador. The face of Aristides de Sousa Mendes has now appeared on postage stamps in several countries.

Readers, please remember that he had a large family to serve. Despite that, he thought of siding with humanity. Yes, in this entire description of the ordeal, his wife does not find mention. But she also deserves her rightful place of indebtedness. So are the other members of his Consul office who chose to side with Mendes. It is said that our hero was inspired by Rabbi Chaim Kruger, who refused to accept the visa offered to him until all of the Jewish refugees in Bordeaux were able to escape. Rabbi Kruger’s role in collecting passports and delivering them in batches enabled Sousa Mendes to issue the visas faster and more efficiently.  

It’s a stamp and a piece of paper which did all the trick.