Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Portugal Honors Diplomat Who Saved Jews From Nazis
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
Portuguese diplomat Aristides de Sousa Mendes. Photo: public domain.
JNS.org – Portugal honored Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a former diplomat for the country, who helped save thousands of Jews from the Nazis during World War II.
“People who at the decisive moment put their and their family’s safety at risk for the greater good are rare. Sousa Mendes was one of those people,” said Speaker of the Portuguese Parliament Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, reported AP on Tuesday.
A tomb with his name was placed in the country’s National Pantheon.
Mendes disobeyed orders made by his superiors, including from dictator António Salazar, when he was a consul in Bordeaux, France. In 1940, he issued visas to those who feared that the Nazis would hunt for them. The Portuguese visas allowed Jews and others to escape via Lisbon on the way to the United States and other countries.
Mendes was fired as a result and died in poverty in 1954, according to the report. The Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem recognizes him as a Righteous Gentile and is noted in “The Righteous Among the Nations.”
In 2017, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo announced Mendes being given the country’s highest honor: the Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty.
