Short Stuff: Aristides de Sousa Mendes

not bad. We can call him, uh, the Portuguese Oscar Schindler, and that should give you a good idea of where this episode is headed. Okay, Ariste di Susa Mendez, We're just gonna leave it at that. Um. By the time rolled around had become a career diplomat for Portugal, he was trained as a lawyer and um. By the time he was assigned to Bordeaux, France in night Um, he had been all over the world. He was definitely a senior diplomat in the diplomatic corps for for Portugal. That's right,

so uh. In nineteen thirty eight, like you said he was in France. World War two comes knocking on his door. Germany invades Poland, and Portugal was like, I really like, we're Portuguese. We're not into this World War stuff. I don't know if you got the memo, but we'd like to remain sort of neutral and happy over here, growing

olives and drinking wine. Um. And so we're gonna we're gonna distribute this thing called Circular fourteen that basically says, all of our our consoles all over the world, you need to deny travel into Portugal for for refugees. We don't like that you're being persecuted, but we want to stay out of this as much as possible. Um A k A. We don't want to make Hitler mad, so we're not gonna take your your refugee, including the Jewish people. Right. And this is the Circular fourteen. It gots sent out

to all consulates in Europe. And um, that was supposed to be that. But this this, this this came at like a time chuck, when they were apparently the New York Times estimated something between six and ten million people moving around Europe because chaos was just starting to brew as Germany invaded Poland and then invaded France. Um. It was pushing and displacing a lot of people around who are trying to get out of here. Um. And I looked up, like that's a pretty big number, but like,

what is it in in today's terms? In Germany, ten million people move around the country a year on their train system. In a year, this was like at once there were six to ten million people moving around, and they were moving around chaotically. But again Portugal said, now we're not taking part in this. Just just stand there, motionless, silent and don't do any thing. They're gonna have to figure out a different way. Uh and and if Germany gets them, well then that's too bad. And this aristide

to Susa. Mendez said, I don't think I can do that. Yeah. So he's in southern France. So that was a hot spot for these refugees because they were thinking we can from there just go into Spain then right into Portugal. That's what Lauren but called it. In Casablanca, she she flew to she flew to Lisbon, that's right. But you know, I don't think they could fly into Lisbon at the time. Yeah, they could. She hops on a plane at the end.

Well she did right, sure, Oh oh you're saying the people who are seeking help from Susan Mendez, that's right, Sure, sure got you. So he knows that if he goes directly against his government, this is gonna be bad news for him. It's gonna be bad news for his family. He would be wilfully disobeying a direct order of Circular fourteen. Um. But he befriended a Polish rabbi UH name chime Hurt Kruga uh, and he offered visas to this guy in his family. But Krueger was like, you know what, UM,

I don't. I'm gonna turn down this offer because what you really need to do is save everybody that you can. And it was a really sort of monumental moment for uh, for Susan Mendez because he was a devout Catholic and this guy was a rabbi and you know they they had their mind on the same thing. It's except the rabbi was just saying like, be bold, and Susan Mendez was in fear of his life basically yeah, because I mean like him him not listening to the Circular fourteen

is not it wasn't like listening. You're not listening to in order from like the Jimmy Carter administration. There was a dictator running the show in Portugal at the time and would continue to run the show until nine seventy I believe. So it was a real conundrum that he found himself in. But ultimately he consulted his own conscience and he said, no, morally, I I have to do something.

I can't just sit by. And he did. He he he took um, he took the advice of this rabbi and at the in Bordeaux Um he's set up basically an assembly line for for stamping and signing any and every visa application into Portugal that was was handed to him by anybody. He tried to get as many people safe passage into Portugal as he he physically could. Yeah, and I think, given what's uh, I'm going to get minor political here, what's going on in this country today? We

should read this quote uh from Susan Mindez. I have it all in my hands now to save the many thousands of persons who have come from everywhere in Europe and the hope of finding sanctuary in Portugal. They are all human beings and their status in life, their religion or color are all together immaterial to me. So let's dwell on that during the message break and UH, we'll be back right after this. I hope that that was a UM. Everybody got a sixty second mid role from

the A C l U just now. So they're running a lot of people through this thing. I mean, like you said, it was like an assembly line, and they were stamping visas like they were running out of stamps. They were stamping visa so fast. Yeah, there's there's no way that he didn't get a hand cramp on the rig. Uh. Tens of thousands of people, UM, many thousands of which

were Jewish, were granted these visas under his authority. UH. And it was later said it was perhaps the largest rescue action by single individual during the Holocaust, and that includes Oscar Schindler. That's huge, yeah, Schindler. I think UM was responsible for making sure that twelve hundred people successfully

escaped the Holocaust. UM sus Amendez UH was responsible for for likely many many thousands more than that, Like they've identified so far at least thirty eight hundred recipients from forty nine different countries. UM but they're like, there's there's thousands and thousands more just from this assembly line that they set up from I believe the beginning of May until um July when Bordeaux was overrun by the Nazis

and the whole operation was broken up. So repercussions for sure. Uh. July nineteen forty, he was recalled from Bordeaux to face trial for in subordination and uh he basically says in court, you know what, um, I answered to God, I would rather stand with God against man than man against God. And he was convinced that he was had a moral defense and he was right, and he was convinced that the actual constitution of Portugal prohibited persecution based on religion,

and he was right there as well. But it didn't matter because, like you said, they were living under a dictatorship. In in in October of nineteen forty, he was found guilty. He was relieved of his duties and blacklisted by the government for the rest of his life, and very, very sadly died in nineteen fifty four at the Franciscan Hospital for the Poor in Lisbon. Yes, not penniless. I noticed

this article said he was broke. I don't know how much you dislike the word pennyless to describe somebody who dies broke. I didn't not see that said penniless. There was like I think in the Tesla episode we did, you're like, I hate that word really, yeah, because you're like, I'm sure he's got a penny I didn't know that he was supposedly didn't have any money, but yeah, he

was broke. I mean like they they broke him. They basically said, you're not gonna have any more government work, um, and good luck finding anything but a government work in a bureaucratic dictatorship. So he, uh, yeah, he was. He was blacklisted, he was black bald, and he died in poverty with his family also taken down with him. You know, like this guy said, and he knew the risk, and he said, I'm I'm going to put all these other

families in front of my own family. And like, if you're a utilitarian, that makes a lot of sense because even two families are worth more than one family. But still, this is this guy's own family that he's putting under the under the gun to help all of these others. But he did not regret it. Towards the end of his life, he said, I could not have acted otherwise, and I therefore accept all that has befallen me with love. How's that for a lesson? It is a great lesson.

And now he is typically mentioned along with Oscar Schindler, who is no slouch himself. No, no, what he did, but I mean, like Susan Mendez also deserves a decent amount of credit as well. And slowly but surely it started to come around. His daughter, Joanna Susa Mendez Um really started to beat the drum to to revive for father is standing in the world. In nineteen sixty six, she got a petition approved so that her father would be named a righteous among nations, which is what the

Yad Vashem, which is the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. It's an honor that they bestow on non Jews who went to great links and placed themselves at great risk to save people from the Holocaust. So that was a big first step, and that took place in nineteen sixty six. But they kept going and then eventually a daughter from one of the people that he saved directly joined this too. Yeah, I mean he was. He was honored a few times in eighty seven, the US Congress um convinced the Portuguese

government to officially apologize. And then after these ancestors of the survivors started coming forward, and they started digging these people up and compiled of a list. So far, this foundation, the Susan Mindees Foundation UM, which is co founded by his grandchildren and descendants of the people that he saved, which is just an amazing story. Uh. They've compiled a list of about thirty eight hundred visa recipients in forty nine different countries, and they are still on the lookout

for more people. It's like this big uh, sort of dispersed family all over the world. Yeah. And and they make the point too that not only did he save all these people, you know, this minimum of thirty eight hundred, but probably thousands and thousands and thousands more. He he directly saved their lives, he also ensured the lives of their offspring who hadn't even been born yet, who are now born and have have, um, you know, managed to live, who otherwise wouldn't have lived had it not been this

for the direct intervention of this guy. Amazing. Yeah, So hats off Aristide Susan Mendez that's a great name. When you're a great guy. We do a lot of hats off in these shorties. I like it. I yeah. It's kind of a celebratory series, isn't it. Yeah? Here and there is for sure, or we talked about to some weird, dumb thing that no one knows about ever understands. Right, but that's what people like, right, that's right. Okay, Well hopefully you like this one. UM. If not, don't tell us. Okay,

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