Observer - Story

Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes (right) in a 1940 photo

Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes saved at least 30,000 lives.

De Sousa Mendes held a diplomatic post as the Portuguese Consul General in Bordeaux, France, in 1940 during the Holocaust. Against the policies and orders of his government, he issued more than 30,000 Portuguese visas that saved the lives of thousands of Jews and other refugees, including the exiled Belgian cabinet and the Hapsburg family, the royal family of Austria.

For his efforts, de Sousa Mendes was stripped of his post, blacklisted, and impoverished. He died in 1954 still in disgrace in his native Portugal.

De Sousa Mendes is just one of the 20 diplomats from countries around the world who rescued Jews during the Holocaust from 1938 through 1945. "Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats," an exhibit that will be on display at the University of Hartford's Joseloff Gallery from May 1 through June 13, features the dramatic and heroic stories and photographs of these diplomats, who saved thousands of lives during World War II.

Zina Davis, director of the University's Joseloff Gallery, said few people are aware that diplomatic rescue was even a possibility during the Holocaust. Most diplomats who aided Jews did so illegally and in direct violation of the regulations and immigration policies of their countries. They risked their careers, and often their lives, to save others. In the years after the war, many diplomats and their families suffered retribution and economic hardship for their courageous actions.

To save those in danger, diplomats issued exit visas, transit visas, citizenship papers, and other forms of documentation that allowed Jews to escape the Nazis. Some diplomats personally smuggled refugees across international borders and frontiers. Many established safe houses and hid Jews in their embassies and personal residences.

Refugees and staff of the Swiss legation in Budapest, 1945

"It's very important to acknowledge this very real but unknown story of heroism during World War II," said Davis. "Collectively, these people saved more than a quarter-million lives." Furthermore, tens of thousands of people now alive are descendents of these refugees, who were able to flee through the efforts of the diplomats.

The families of the diplomats who were dishonored for their heroism have sought to have their respective governments restore the names and honor of their forefathers. After more than 60 years, some diplomats honored in the exhibit have yet to be recognized in their own countries. Portugal, however, repudiated its condemnation of de Sousa Mendes in 1995 and posthumously honored him with a hero's medal.

De Sousa Mendes did not regret his actions. "If so many Jews can suffer because of one person [Hitler], then one Christian can suffer for Jews," he said.

Exhibit Sponsors

"Visas for Life: The Righteous and Honorable Diplomats" is sponsored by the Wallenberg Society of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and presented by the University of Hartford's Joseloff Gallery. Funding for this program is made possible through the generosity of the following foundations and individual donors:

Beatrice Fox Auerbach Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving,
as advised by Elizabeth Schiro and Stephen Bayer

The Endowment Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, Inc.

Andrew J. and Joyce D. Mandell Family Foundation

The Samuel Roskin Trust at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Janet and Michael Suisman