{"id":41363,"date":"2024-07-19T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/the-life-of-aristides-de-sousa-mendes-an-example-for-us-all\/"},"modified":"2024-07-19T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-07-19T12:00:00","slug":"the-life-of-aristides-de-sousa-mendes-an-example-for-us-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=41363","title":{"rendered":"The life of Aristides de Sousa Mendes: an example for us all"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cAristides de Sousa Mendes was a beacon of courage, compassion, and conviction in a world of total moral collapse,\u201d said Mr. Guterres in a video message to inaugurate the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum in the town of\u00a0Carregal do Sal.<\/p>\n<p>Aristides de Sousa Mendes was a Portuguese diplomat based in Bordeaux, France, who defied his own Government\u2019s orders to stamp passports and visas that allowed thousands to flee on to Portugal.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Safe passage<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A Portuguese visa allowed them safe passage through Spain, which was officially neutral. However, the infamous Portuguese \u2018Circular 14\u2019 directive instructed diplomats to deny safe haven to refugees, explicitly Jews, Russians, and other stateless persons who could not return home.<\/p>\n<p>As the Nazis quickly approached the Bordeaux consulate where Mendes was working, he faced a stark choice between following orders or saving lives. He chose the latter,\u00a0declaring \u201cI would rather stand with God against Man than with Man against God.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>\u2018Lives saved and lives lived\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Working day and night, Mendes established a rapid system to stamp and sign passports and issue thousands of lifesaving visas in June 1940.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis legacy is lives saved and lives lived \u2013 including a young girl who, years later, would become the mother of my own Spokesperson at the United Nations,\u201d said the UN chief, who served as Prime Minister of Portugal between 1995 and 2002.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Mendes was forced to pay for his heroism. Portuguese dictator Ant\u00f3nio de Oliveira Salazar \u2013 who ruled the country for forty years up to 1968 &#8211; expelled him from the diplomatic corps without any pension, leaving him to die in poverty.<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, in the decades since, the magnitude and bravery of his actions have been gradually recognised, said the Secretary-General.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis museum \u2013 in his ancestral home \u2013 is a critical part of those efforts,\u201d Mr. Guterres stressed.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The memory of Mendes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The inauguration of the museum comes at a \u201cvital time,\u201d as the number of people forced to flee their homes has reached a record high and \u201chatred and intolerance are rife,\u201d Mr. Guterres noted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are at risk of forgetting our shared humanity,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n<p>In this context, Mr. Guterres is calling on people everywhere to be inspired by the memory of Mr. Mendes and take courage from his bravery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet us commit to defend human rights and dignity for all. And to stand up against discrimination, intolerance, and hate whenever and wherever they appear,\u201d the Secretary-General said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2024\/07\/1152291\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAristides de Sousa Mendes was a beacon of courage, compassion, and conviction in a world of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1475,805,1477,1476],"class_list":["post-41363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","tag-aristides","tag-life","tag-mendes","tag-sousa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v28.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The life of Aristides de Sousa Mendes: an example for us all - Gulf Times | News by the minute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gulf Times: Latest news across the GCC from UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2024\/07\/1152291\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The life of Aristides de Sousa Mendes: an example for us all\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gulf News| UAE&#039;s Largest News aggregator site\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2024\/07\/1152291\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gulf Times | News by the minute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100084981843786\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-19T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1721412752_image560x340cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"gulftimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Gulftimesuae\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Gulftimesuae\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"gulftimes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The life of Aristides de Sousa Mendes: an example for us all - 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