Exhibition

Organized by the Association of Portuguese Speakers in Switzerland. Event in French and Portuguese. Special guest Gerald Mendes.

Exhibition including original artifacts such as dolls, passports, and identification cards carried by Sousa Mendes visa recipients as they fled Nazi-occupied Europe via Portugal with help from Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Leon Levy Gallery and Mezzanine Gallery, 2nd floor

Sunday, 11:00am – 5:00pm
Monday and Wednesday, 9:30am – 8:00pm
Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30am – 5:00pm
Friday: 9:30am – 4:00pm.

Free and open to the public

The American Jewish Committee and the Holocaust Museum Houston are jointly sponsoring a commemoration of Aristides de Sousa Mendes in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Louis-Philippe Mendes, grandson of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, will speak.  All events will be held at the Holocaust Museum Houston.

Schedule:

Thursday, January 26, 2017, 6:30 p.m.

Screening of Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story at the Holocaust Museum Houston.  Free and open to the public.

Friday, January 27, 2017, 10 a.m.

Ceremony “Remembering Aristides de Sousa Mendes” with Houston Diplomatic Consular Corps and remarks by Louis-Philippe Mendes.  Free and open to the public, but seating is limited.

January 26-February 26, 2017

In conjunction with the above events, the Sousa Mendes Foundation presents an exhibition of original artifacts, “Sousa Mendes and his Visas to Freedom.” On view will be passports with the original Sousa Mendes visas along with personal items of refugees rescued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

For more information, call (713) 942-8000.

The Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine presents an exhibition about Sousa Mendes, Schindler, Wallenberg and other rescuers. On view are original passports with Sousa Mendes visas and other important artifacts.

The European Parliament pays tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes at their headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on Wednesday, September 27, 2017.  The President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani will participate. Other speakers will include Sousa Mendes visa recipient Françoise Wybauw, Sousa Mendes’s grandson Gerald Mendes, and SMF President Olivia Mattis. On view will be the exhibition “These are my people!” The Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

The Sousa Mendes Foundation presents “To Life!  The Living Legacy of Aristides de Sousa Mendes” — an exhibition of original artifacts in the Municipal Museum of Carregal do Sal, Portugal.  This exhibition will include original photographs, passports, visas, documents, and letters, as well as toys carried by child refugees on their escape from Nazi-occupied Europe in 1940.  It gives a rich flavor for the time, and highlights the crucial role of Aristides de Sousa Mendes in the survival of thousands of innocent victims.  The exhibition highlights the friendships that developed between the arriving refugees and the Portuguese people who welcomed them with open arms.

Photo:  Refugees in Curia, 1940. L-R: Frederic SEGALL, William PICK (later PETERS), unknown, Eva STADLER, Edith STADLER, unknown, Jana HAHN, Charlotte BENBASSAT, Marco BENBASSAT, Milada PICK (later PETERS), all rescued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum, in partnership with the Portuguese Consulate of New Bedford, MA, presents the exhibition, “These are my people!” —  The Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.  This 20-panel exhibition tells the gripping true story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes and the refugees he saved.

Also on view will be original artifacts such as passports with Sousa Mendes visas, toys carried by child refugees, and other items on loan from the Sousa Mendes Foundation and individual visa recipient families.

The exhibition opening will include a screening of the short documentary film With God Against Man directed by Semyon Pinkhasov.  The event is free, but pre-registration is required.

Following the free June 13th opening, the exhibition will remain on view until mid-July.  Regular museum admission rates apply.

 

Leah Rozenfeld Sills, Vice-President of the Sousa Mendes Foundation, invites you to

Escape to Life, an exhibit and artist talk with:

Gaia Starr, ceramic artist and author of

Journey Maps 1940, a ceramic novel

and

Joan Arnay Halperin, author of

My Sister’s Eyes:  A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II

A benefit for the Sousa Mendes Foundation

Artist talks at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Coffee and kosher desserts!

Donations (of any amount) can be made at:

www.crowdrise.com/visastofreedom

Or by check or cash in person.

Donations are 100% tax-deductible.

Questions?  Call (877) 797-9759 or email:  olivia@sousamendesfoundation.org

Dr. Mordecai Paldiel, the leading world authority on the Righteous Diplomats, will speak in an intimate wine-and-cheese gathering to which you are invited!  Dr. Paldiel is the former director of the Righteous Among the Nations department at Yad Vashem and will speak about Chiune Sugihara, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Georg Duckwitz and other heroes.  

Also speaking will be Armand Lerner, a Sousa Mendes visa recipient, and Chaim Jaskoll, whose family was saved by Sugihara. On view during this special event will be the ceramic novel “Journey Maps 1940” by Gaia Starr, depicting her family’s exodus from Nazi-occupied Europe with the help of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

This is a very special event that you won’t want to miss!  If you plan to come, kindly RSVP to info@sousamendesfoundation.org. Or give us a call at (877) 797-9759.

The National Archives of Luxembourg presents a large and comprehensive exhibition:  Aristides de Sousa Mendes : un consul portugais entre la conscience humaine et la raison d’Etat.  The Sousa Mendes Foundation has contributed objects, photographs and testimonials to the project.  Other lenders include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lisbon, Portugal and the Sousa Mendes family.  The exhibition is presented on the occasion of Luxembourg assuming the presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

One of the families saved by Aristides de Sousa Mendes in 1940 is the Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg (pictured above), headed at the time by Grand Duchess Charlotte. She wrote of Sousa Mendes:

“His merits, in a time of tragedy and panic, will always be remembered by the Luxembourg refugees, many of them of Jewish faith, by the members of the Luxembourg Government and by my own family, who were saved by his initiative from certain persecution and thus enabled to reach the free countries.” 

The exhibition will be held at the National Archives of Luxembourg, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Saturday 8:30-11:30 a.m., from November 28, 2019 until February 22, 2020.  It is free and open to the public.  Free guided tours are available by reservation at relations.publiques@an.etat.lu.