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Amidst the horrors and atrocities of World War II, there were selfless acts of compassion, heroism, and defiance in the face of fascism. Portuguese consul to France Aristides de Sousa Mendes went against the orders of his authoritarian prime minister and used his office to issue visas to help refugees escape the advancing Nazis.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: June 17, 1940--
Sousa Mendes was 64 when the fucking Nazis invaded France. That’s getting near an age when a lot of people begin to say fuck all of it and do what they damn well please. Except in this case, it wasn’t what he pleased, but what he believed were orders from God.
Portugal was fascist as fuck. Since 1932 authoritarian asswipe Antonio de Oliveira Salazar was running the show. Salazar knew damn well the fucking Nazis were intending to murder as many Jews as they could, and he didn’t give a shit. So in the late 1930s he began to lock down his country’s borders, enacting a no-Jews policy.
In May of 1940 Germany launched its blitzkrieg of France and neighboring nations and steamrolled the shit out of them in a matter of weeks. Sousa Mendes was stationed in the south of France in the city of Bordeaux, which was soon overrun with refugees fleeing the fucking Nazi advance.
One of those refugees was Rabbi Chaim Kruger, whom Sousa Mendes met by coincidence, becoming fast friends. In defiance of his government, Sousa Mendes offered his new friend, along with his wife and five children, visas to escape to Portugal. The rabbi refused, saying he could not flee unless all Jewish refugees were granted visas. This thrust the consul into a “moral crisis.”
Coupled with the fact that his pregnant mistress showed up and he was scandalized in front of his family, Sousa Mendes had a mental meltdown and went into seclusion to pray. On June 17, 1940, the French government broadcast on the radio that “we must stop fighting.” (Because we fucking lost).That same day Sousa Mendes emerged from his seclusion, compelled by “a divine power” and said, “From now on I’m giving everyone visas.”
His daughter said the fuck dad you’re gonna get in trouble. He said bring it. This is the right thing to do. His wife, sons, secretary, Rabbi Kruger, and other refugees helped him set up an assembly line of visa creation. They issued hundreds each day, many of them to Jews. On June 26 Sousa Mendes received orders from his pissed-off government to return to Portugal. He took his sweet-ass time, issuing many more visas over the next two weeks on his way.
The number of visas granted is disputed, but Holocaust scholar Yehuda Bauer proclaims that Sousa Mendes’s efforts represent “perhaps the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust.” Sousa Mendes was punished by his government for his humanitarianism. He died in 1954. Portugal posthumously cleared his name and honored him in 1988.
Thanks, Bee, for the suggestion of today’s topic.
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James Fell, all of your Holocaust heroes are European. How about non-Europeans like Ho Feng-shan, a Chinese diplomat who started issuing visas for Jews, against the commands of his superiors, starting in 1938, even before Kristallnacht? Hos numbers are not known, but they are not disputed either. And humble pie,... he never bragged of his heroism, and his heroism wasn't discovered until his daughter was doing research for his obituary.
For reference:
https://www.holocaustrescue.org/chronology-of-rescue-by-dr-feng-shan-ho-china#_edn36
https://en.gariwo.net/righteous/the-righteous-biographies/holocaust/people-recognized-as-righteous/ho-feng-shan-15529.html
Wow, how have they NOT given this guy’s story the Schindler’s List treatment in Hollywood?! I was a history major in university and have never heard of this guy. Incredible story. Thank you (again) James!
Btw, your book fucking rocks! 🤘🏻😈🤘🏻