Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the consul who opened the door of Portugal to refugees
The author of the funeral eulogy for Aristides de Sousa Mendes, at Tuesday’s ceremony at the National Pantheon, is also co-author of the Aristides Virtual Museum.
Researcher Margarida Magalhães Ramalho recognizes that the ceremony has the power to formally end a controversy over the recognition of the role of Aristides, which the new state destroyed as an official.
Even acknowledging that it is not possible to convince everyone.
The author of the book “Fios Vermelhos” was responsible for Vilar Formoso – Fronteira da Paz, and for the Aristides Memorial.
Newsletter for subscribers
In the book, he tells stories of families – of privacy, but not only – that shelter, or safe haven of passage, in Portugal.
Aristides’ gestures in Bordeaux and the low level of anti-Semitism in Portugal, compared to the rest of Europe at that time in history, created a safe path for many of families.
Even today, it is not known, who are beneficiaries of visas signed by the consul of Portugal in Bordeaux, but historians work with numbers that vary between 10 and 15 thousand.
In the book “Red Threads”, a researcher Margarida de Magalhães Ramalho tells stories of noble families, merchant bankers, politicians, and many others, guaranteeing that she spoke with almost everyone or with their descendants.