Originally shared by Anne-Marie Clark
Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a hero, who saved ~30,000 Jews & others fleeing Hitler, 10x that of Schindler, defied his dictator govt & died shunned, in poverty:
“Portugal was neutral during the war. But its Fascist dictator, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, had actually issued orders banning Jews, Russians and stateless people from entering the country.
“Sousa Mendes, his country’s consul general in Bordeaux, knowingly disobeyed those orders, frantically signing visas day and night just before he was recalled to Lisbon in late June 1940.”
^^^^^
“Starting today I will obey my conscience. As a Christian I do not have the right to let these women and men die.”
Quoted in this article, written by his grandson:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/holocaust-remembrance-day_1_b_1434733.html
^^^^^
“I cannot allow all you people to die. Many of you are Jews, and our constitution clearly states that neither the religion nor the political beliefs of foreigners can be used as a pretext for refusing to allow them to stay in Portugal. I’ve decided to be faithful to that principle, but I shan’t resign for all that. The only way I can respect my faith as a Christian is to act in accordance with the dictates of my conscience.”
Quoted in this article:
More:
http://sousamendesfoundation.org/aristides-de-sousa-mendes-his-life-and-legacy/
Mike Reeves-McMillan lives in Auckland, New Zealand, the setting of his Auckland Allies contemporary urban fantasy series; and also in his head, where the weather is more reliable, and there are a lot more wizards. He also writes the Gryphon Clerks series (steampunk/magepunk), the Hand of the Trickster series (sword-and-sorcery heist capers), and short stories which have appeared in venues such as Compelling Science Fiction and Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores.
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