About the Family

The POLAK family from Czechoslovakia received visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux on June 19, 1940.

The numbering of the surviving visa, much lower than that of other known visas delivered on the same date, suggests the existence of a second visa registry book for the Portuguese Consulate in Bordeaux, beyond the book that survives. Moreover, the signature is clearly in another hand, not that of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, confirming the fact that others were part of the visa delivery assembly line process.

The family crossed into Portugal, where they resided in Curia. In August of 1940, they sailed on the ship Serpa Pinto to Brazil, where they settled.