Be A Sousa Mendes: A Writer’s Counter to Present-Day Fascism

When the cruel and cold ruled, there was one who showed compassion. When power was held by those filled with ignorance and fear, there was one who showed empathy and care. When laws were inhumane, there was one who preserved humanity.

During the reign of Antonio de Olivera Salazar’s Estado Novo dictatorship, Portuguese society was oppressed by a conservative Catholic regime. A state of restriction using secret police to force their way into homes, maintaining a prying eye on the lives of its citizens. A regime that obliged the Third Reich’s reign of terror by issuing Circular 14, an inhumane order restricting any refugees from being granted admittance into Portugal to escape the horrors of Nazism.

Tens of thousands of refugees filled the city of Bordeaux, France day and night. They pressed themselves against the Portuguese consulate in the city. Behind them, the horrors of Hitler were approaching with each passing day. Ahead of them, a window out of Europe — and the only way through it was with a Portuguese-issued signed visa.

That power lay in the hands of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul to Bordeaux, France. An imperfect man. A man of privilege. A man who had no reason to place himself in the crosshairs of an autocracy — except for the voice of his own conscious. Dealing already with a personal conflict within his family, he faced an unimaginable choice: Allow those tens of thousands to be slaughtered… or defy Salazar.

Suffering a nervous breakdown and locking himself in his office for days, Sousa Mendes emerged from his exile with a new clarity. An act of consciousness during his solitude that allowed him to formulate his decision. He stood before his family and staff, took a breath, and said “From now on, there will be no more nationalities, races, or religions.”

Disavowing the restrictions set by Salazar in Circular 14, Sousa Mendes would no longer turn away refugees, no matter the nation they salute or the faith they practice. ALL souls would be saved. Throughout June 1940, Sousa Mendes, his wife, children, and consulate staff worked tirelessly from early morning to late evening creating an assembly line of visa distributions. He feverishly signed every single visa presented to him, granting freedom to every single life with the stroke of his pen and the slam of his stamp. When Salazar heard word of this and ordered authorities to close the consulate, Sousa Mendes and his staff would drive to the French border, signing visas as he went. Arriving at the border before Salazar’s orders, he demanded that the border patrol allow every refugee to cross — and so they did. With every breath and every step, Sousa Mendes cleared refugee after refugee, holding the window to safety open for as long as he possibly could.

Eventually, Sousa Mendes was arrested, taken back to Portugal, and faced the wrath of an embarrassed dictator. Multiple charges were brought against Sousa Mendes, for Salazar’s pride and ego could not allow this defiance of his laws to go unpunished. When given the moment to deny or defend himself, Sousa Mendes spoke clearly without any hesitation, saying “I could not have acted otherwise, and I therefore accept all that has befallen me with love.”

Sousa Mendes would have his title revoked and his finances drained. He and his family were blacklisted throughout the country, left to live in poverty, and shunned by their fellow Portuguese — all while Salazar graciously accepted credit for saving and sheltering Sousa Mendes’ refugees. On April 3, 1954, Aristides de Sousa Mendes died; he was 68. Sixteen years later, Salazar would die at the age of 81.

On April 25, 1974, Portugal’s Carnation Revolution overthrew Estado Novo and the Portuguese people began the transition from dictatorship to democracy. In the years after, the Sousa Mendes family worked tirelessly to clear their patriarch’s name and grant him the justice he so deserved — and they succeeded.

From Portugal to Israel to the United States, Aristides de Sousa Mendes has been recognized as a “Righteous Among the Nations” for his acts of heroism. His actions, defying the laws of a dictator to preserve life, resulted in the rescue of over 30,000 refugees — 10,000 of which were Jewish.

Generations exist because one person defied an inhumane law. Great-grandchildren will learn about their history because one imperfect person defied suppression. The example set by Sousa Mendes is everlasting; one that rings true in today’s political upheaval.

Where some hold signs that mirror past oppressions, act on your conscious. When there is talk of division and the degradation of a people, respond with the story of an insubordinate consul and his refugees. When their actions echo those of Salazar, respond as Sousa Mendes.

Always be a Sousa Mendes. Always.

AE.

This article was previously featured in the August edition of PAMA Magazine Portuguese Media, a digital publication.