“Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a beacon of braveness, compassion, and conviction in a world of complete ethical collapse,” mentioned Mr. Guterres in a video message to inaugurate the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum within the city of Carregal do Sal.
Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat based mostly in Bordeaux, France, who defied his personal Authorities’s orders to stamp passports and visas that allowed hundreds to flee on to Portugal.
Secure passage
A Portuguese visa allowed them protected passage by way of Spain, which was formally impartial. Nonetheless, the notorious Portuguese ‘Round 14’ directive instructed diplomats to disclaim protected haven to refugees, explicitly Jews, Russians, and different stateless individuals who couldn’t return house.
Because the Nazis rapidly approached the Bordeaux consulate the place Mendes was working, he confronted a stark alternative between following orders or saving lives. He selected the latter, declaring “I might slightly stand with God in opposition to Man than with Man in opposition to God.”
‘Lives saved and lives lived’
Working day and night time, Mendes established a fast system to stamp and signal passports and situation hundreds of lifesaving visas in June 1940.
“His legacy is lives saved and lives lived – together with a younger lady who, years later, would change into the mom of my very own Spokesperson on the United Nations,” mentioned the UN chief, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal between 1995 and 2002.
Mr. Mendes was pressured to pay for his heroism. Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar – who dominated the nation for forty years as much as 1968 – expelled him from the diplomatic corps with none pension, leaving him to die in poverty.
Fortunately, within the a long time since, the magnitude and bravado of his actions have been progressively recognised, mentioned the Secretary-Common.
“This museum – in his ancestral house – is a important a part of these efforts,” Mr. Guterres burdened.
The reminiscence of Mendes
The inauguration of the museum comes at a “very important time,” because the variety of individuals pressured to flee their properties has reached a report excessive and “hatred and intolerance are rife,” Mr. Guterres famous.
“We’re prone to forgetting our shared humanity,” he emphasised.
On this context, Mr. Guterres is looking on individuals all over the place to be impressed by the reminiscence of Mr. Mendes and take braveness from his bravery.
“Allow us to decide to defend human rights and dignity for all. And to face up in opposition to discrimination, intolerance, and hate each time and wherever they seem,” the Secretary-Common mentioned.
