“Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a beacon of braveness, compassion and conviction in a world of complete ethical collapse,” Mr Guterres mentioned 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 stationed in Bordeaux, France, who defied his personal authorities’s orders to stamp passports and visas, permitting 1000’s of individuals to flee to Portugal.
Safe passage
A Portuguese visa allowed them protected passage by means of Spain, which was formally impartial. However, the notorious Portuguese directive “Circular 14” ordered diplomats to disclaim protected haven to refugees, particularly Jews, Russians and different stateless individuals who couldn’t return house.
As the Nazis quickly closed in on the Bordeaux consulate the place Mendes was working, he confronted a stark alternative between following orders and saving lives. He selected the latter, declaring, “I might fairly be with God in opposition to man than with man in opposition to God.”
“Lives Saved and Lives Lived”
Working day and night time, in June 1940 Mendes established a fast system for stamping and signing passports and issuing 1000’s of lifesaving visas.
“His legacy is one among lives saved and lives lived, together with that of a younger lady who, years later, would turn into the mom of my spokesperson on the United Nations,” mentioned the UN chief, who served as Portugal’s prime minister from 1995 to 2002.
Mr. Mendes was pressured to pay for his heroism. Portuguese dictator António de Oliveira Salazar, who dominated the nation for forty years till 1968, expelled him from the diplomatic corps with none pension, leaving him to die in poverty.
Fortunately, within the many years since, the scope and braveness of his actions have regularly been acknowledged, the Secretary-General mentioned.
“This museum, in his ancestral house, is a vital a part of these efforts,” Mr. Guterres careworn.
The reminiscence of Mendes
The museum’s opening comes at a “essential second” because the variety of folks pressured to flee their properties has reached a document excessive and “hatred and intolerance are widespread,” Guterres famous.
“We run the chance of forgetting our frequent humanity,” he careworn.
In this context, Mr Guterres calls on folks world wide to attract inspiration from the reminiscence of Mr Mendes and to attract braveness from his braveness.
“Let us commit ourselves to defending the human rights and dignity of all. And to opposing discrimination, intolerance and hatred, wherever and each time they come up,” mentioned the Secretary-General.
