Unknown Portuguese "Righteous Gentile" Remembered in Portugal

Summary of Article: Mr. Sousa Mendes was Portugal's consul in Bordeaux, France, when Germany began its invasion of Europe in 1939. His twin brother was consul in Warsaw and informed him of the atrocities beginning there. In response, Mr. Mendes personally created 30,000 visas to get Jews and others out of France to Portugal and safety. Exact numbers are unknown, but an estimated one-third of the visas saved Jews, with the rest saving members of Europe's aristocracy and artists, such as Salvador Dali. Mr. Mendes, an aristocrat with 15 children, was rebuked for his actions by the Portuguese government. He was recalled to Portugal, stripped of his diplomacy position, and ended up dying in poverty, his courageous actions entirely unrecognized. He is being remembered today, as some are trying to make his now dilapidated mansion into a Tolerance Museum and others are searching for those he saved.