Talk:Aristides de Sousa Mendes
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[edit] Not just Jews
Aristides de Sousa Mendes didn't "fought against his own government for the safety of European Jews" only. He fought for them and for all the people who needed visas to escape from Hitler.
He always said he did it for ethics, humanitarian and religious reasons and that those were far more important than administrative orders.
He was humilliated by portuguese authorities and his family's house (in Cabanas de Viriato) was left to decay.
This MAN was hid from his countrymen! The portuguese have to wait until the 1980's to come to his knowledge (altough some small articles appeared on magazines from time to time). And even now many portuguese don't know him (not to mention the rest of the world).
Aníbal Cavaco Silva (prime minister in the 80's and 90's) was said to have explained Sousa Mendes' family that if Aristides should happen to be under his orders he would do the same (because Aristides disobeyed superior orders). This was written in a newspaper ("Expresso" if i am not wrong) and Aníbal Cavaco Silva never made a formal (or not) denial of that article. Even now, Aristides de Sousa Mendes is a "rock in the shoe" both for portuguese politicians as well as to others allover the world. To have to accept that a "disobeying diplomat" was an heroe is thing that people that live by authoritarism will never "swallow".
There were many other people that did similar acts (a japanese ambassador, two other portuguese and more), but noone saved so many lives in such a few time as he did. And due to that he and his family had to endure heavily.
I am proud to be called human because MEN like these, no matter what nationality, colour, sex, age, religion, sexual tendencies, etc, existed and still exist... no matter if official "History" tends to neglect these and praise others! --Felissilvestris
- Replies to various points in the previous user's comments:
- (1) I have changed the line in the article to read "Jews living in Europe," which is more accurate.
- (2) The Portuguese Wikipedia article mentions something about in 2006 a house of his was being rebuilt (?) but doesn't give a source. If you have a source for this, let's add it. All I found so far was a 1998 article from someone writing to say he was horrified by plans to raze the house you mention and to build a hotel. He was trying to start a campaign to save and restore the house. I don't know what became of that.
- (3) I don't read Portuguese (I have to guess from Spanish and from online translation sites), so I can't look too effectively for the article about Aníbal Cavaco Silva, but if you find it, post something here and we can all look at and decide whether and where it fits into the article
- (4) I saw a bit about other people dishonored by their governments for similar acts, on the Portuguese Wikipedia, and tried to add it to this article. I'm also working on adding a paragraph about his efforts at the French border, where he led a group of refugees to a different crossing point without phones after offices received a call ordering them not to honor the visas. Last, we need a "See also:" referring the reader to related articles about the other people you mention (for example, see the Raoul Wallenberg article).Lawikitejana 19:23, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Jewish Origin ?
Does anyone know if Sousa Mendes is a converso/marrano family name? Was Aristides de Sousa Mendes aware of such a family history?
- I found one secondhand source that claimed he was of converso descent, but am dubious only because one would think the accounts by his family would mention it, if it were so. The only way I can think they wouldn't mention it would be if they saw it as lessening his example to others; i.e., the idea that he "only" did it because he had Jewish heritage and not because it was simply the moral thing to do. Lawikitejana 19:18, 26 August 2006 (UTC)
I seriously doubt Aristides de Sousa (or Souza) Mendes could be of converso/marrano origin. Sousa Mendes is a genuine portuguese name. Sousa is older than nationality and Mendes comes from Mendo, a popular portuguese name of early days of independence. Other than name i can not say wether he was or not from jewish ascent. I know he was roman catholic and that religious believes as well as ethics made him do what he did. All i read about him, and especially what i read from what he said led me to think that he would mention it anywhere or anytime (if he knew he had a jewish ascent). On the other hand he was from a noble, aristocratic family. Those kind of families usually have their genealogy done, unlike plain people like me, so i don't think that theory (of him being from jewish ascent) can be trusty. But this is just my opinion, not a fact. Altough my opinion is rational and based on facts. However, and more important, is that this is not important about Aristides and what he did. As i have said he fought to save people. He didn't fought to save jewish people. Telling that would be unfair to what he did and said; that should mean discrimitation, thing he opposed. According to accepted numbers he saved around 30 thousand people, being jewish around one third. He did that on few days in Bordeaux and near the frontier of Irún/Hendaye. It is well known too that he said that "if so many jews suffered because of a catholic - Hitler - then, it's not too much that a catholic suffers for having helped jews" and "i couldn't distinct nationalities, because i obbeyed to humanitiarian reasons that don't distinguish between races nor nationalities" (this had to be with the orders he received from Salazar, where were forbidden visa to some nationalities, ethnies and so on). I hope this helps. My first contribution is not a "jounalistic" essay, just a contribution to the article i have read and with some strong opinions about broader issues. This one is a more detached writing, altough much times we work on theories because we have not enough facts. --Felissilvestris 05:29, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] No other country did as much to help the refugees as Portugal
No other country did as much to help the refugees as Portugal", say Fritz
and Kaethe Adelsberger, for whom Portugal means salvation. Two Jews, among hundreds of thousands to have fled across the whole of Europe escaping the Nazis. And they are still living in Lisbon today. The capital city of this small, impoverished nation was a transit station for many prominent Jewish refugees, such as Heinrich Mann, Franz Werfel, Lion Feuchtwanger and Alfred Polgar.Strictly governed by Prime Minister Antonio Salazar, Portugal was neutral during the Second World War and guaranteed a thirty-day stopover for the hunted exiles, who had to make their way through the country on route to America. But as the war intensified and less ships were able to sail, more and more people were „stranded" in Lisbon. ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS6Q6ZQ5qT8
Careful on what you read.Prime Minister Antonio Salazar was not Anti-Semitic. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 3sidestoeverything (talk • contribs) 01:47, 28 January 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Honor and disgrace
I suppose this title was written by a Portuguese speaker. Be careful: "disgrace" is a false friend. If you're trying to say queda em desgraça, I don't think that's the word you need. ("Disgrace" means vergonha!) FilipeS 21:51, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
