quand Aristides de Sousa Mendes sauvait des réfugiés du nazisme dans une France en déroute
Refugees, indeed, there is a lot of talk about them. The exhibition certainly pays homage to the Portuguese consul, who, in three weeks, issued nearly 30,000 visas to people fleeing Nazism. “Jews, but not only,” says Laurent Védrine. A heroic commitment that put him at odds with the regime of dictator Antonio Salazar and because he died in poverty.
But, more generally, the exhibition returns to the months of May and June 1940 when four million French, Belgian or Dutch refugees found themselves on the roads, fleeing the Blitzkrieg of the German army. And where many ended up in Bordeaux, where the government had responded.
The history of Sousa Mendes is universal in scope, but it is also inscribed in local memory. This is what can be seen at the Aquitaine Museum. Thanks to pieces provided by the Center Jean Moulin, by the Archives of the Department and the Metropolis, as well as by the three Sousa Mendes foundations (France, Portugal, Canada) she brings to life this moment when the fate of France was played in Bordeaux.
A series of press clippings traces the thread of events: the breakthrough at Sedan, the exodus, the rivalry between Philippe Pétain, a supporter of the armistice, and Paul Reynaud, who wanted to continue the war from North Africa. A secret document from the German army shows how the French general staff had been infiltrated by spies.
Photos or drawings show the Bordeaux of those tragic weeks: the stone bridge clogged with refugees, sandbags spread over the Tourny alleys to form trenches. A notice from Marshal Pétain declaring Bordeaux an open city is affixed next to General de Gaulle’s appeal to continue the fight.
Further on, anti-Semitic propaganda unfolds. The expression “new order” appears in an opinion of Adrien Marquet, mayor and Minister of the Interior. Thirty years later, it will be the name of a neofascist movement. A poster announces the exhibition “The Jew and France” in the current Museum of Fine Arts.
“Some people were in tears when they named us objects that are part of their family history”
All this chaos makes Aristides de Sousa Mendes’ conscience waver. A diplomat from the Portuguese conservative right, he is also a fervent Catholic and a humanist. His meeting with Rabbi Kruger, who is fleeing Nazi-invaded Poland, convinces him to disobey his government’s instructions not to issue visas to Jews and stateless persons. He mobilizes all the staff of the consulate, even his own children. He goes to Bayonne to issue other visas to other refugees.
The exhibition also shows the traces of this action: documents signed by him, yellow stars, the stuffed rabbit that a little Dutch girl kept with her throughout her journey. “Some people were in tears when they named us these objects that are part of their family history,” says Laurent Védrine. This exhibition is an opportunity to revive this memory, to ask ourselves what we would have done in the place of Sousa Mendes. And what we can do today. »