Portugal

   During the refugee crisis of the 1930s, thousands of Jews sought to reach Portugal via Spain in order to escape from Europe by ship. In May 1940, the officially neutral but pro-German Portuguese government prohibited the passage of refugees through its territory. The Portuguese government instructed its consular agents in France not to issue visas to persons who had no final destination or who were seeking asylum in Portugal.

   Specifically, visas were not to be issued to Jews. This action left thousands of Jews stranded in the south of France. It was under these circumstances that the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, issued almost 10,000 entry visas to Jews and 20,000 to other refugees, including American actor Robert Montgomery. Because Sousa Mendes disobeyed his government’s orders, he was dismissed from the Foreign Service. The visas, which saved thousands of lives, read, “The Portuguese government requests of the Spanish government the courtesy of allowing the bearer to pass freely through Spain. He is a refugee from the European conflict.”

   See Righteous Gentiles.