Portuguese Consul saved Jews - Part 2
- Written by Jack Soifer
Continuation of the article 'Portuguese Consul saved Jews' by Jack Soifer.
On June 24th Salazar recalled him, an order he followed slowly, not arriving in Lisbon until July 8th. Along the way he issued Portuguese passports to refugees now trapped in occupied France, preventing their deportation to death.
In 1941, Salazar forced Mendes to quit his position. Neither he could resume his law career. Just before the war's end in 1945, he suffered a stroke that left him at least partially para-lyzed. In his later years, he was abandoned by most of his colleagues & friends and blamed by some of his close family members. Aided by a local Jewish refugee agency, which had begun to feed the family and pay their rent upon discovering the situation, the children moved to other countries as they were now denied opportunities in Portugal. Stripped of his pension, he died in poverty on April 3, 1954.
In 1966 Sousa Mendes was honored at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial as one of the "Righteous Among The Nations". In 1986 his son J-Paul Abranches started an international com-mittee to honour Sousa Mendes. In -94, pres. Mário Soares revealed a sculpure of Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux.
In 1998, Portugal gave him the Cruz de Mérito medal. In 2006 commenced a move to revamp Sousa Mendes’ former home his home in Carregal do Sal. In 2007, in a TV show, people elected him as the 3rd most important Portuguese over time.
The current dismay
I visited his home in early 2010, almost a ruin. I told the story to a tour-operator who would support the reconstruction of the house of Sousa Mendes. The project for a museum, approved by government is great. The Route of Heroes, also passing centenarian dolmens combined with wine-tasting along the Dão is perfect. The ceiling of that palace has collapsed, the walls will collapse. The government would spend nothing. But it handled over the property to a foundation which needs a boss, credible internationally, spelling out the pledge to turn the ruin into a museum. There is already local tourism, good restaurants, the Philharmonic Cabanas, wine-cellars in Dão, dolmens, spa, the tasty dairies of Serra da Estrela, the nice smal
synagogue in Belmonte. The Jewish community would sponsor it, as they did with the cemetery in Faro.
The richness and diversity of the local culture along the Dão is unexplored especially the history and heritage. Some people from that village may support. Once the home is ready, Ameri-can, Canadian and Argentine tourists, grand-children of those saved by Sousa Mendes, will come.
In Feb/10 I wrote to the former Ministers of Culture and of Tourism; nothing happened. In the meanwhile most of the very valuable French furniture, crystals and paintings were robbed while also the walls start falling apart.
