The Timeline

Birth of Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches and his twin brother César.

César was the older twin, born on July 18. Aristides was the younger twin, born on July 19. Photo taken during Carnaval, 1892.

Birth of José de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, younger brother of the twins.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes and César de Sousa Mendes graduate from Coimbra University with degrees in law. Both choose foreign service as their profession.

Wedding of Aristides and Angelina de Sousa Mendes.

Birth of first child Aristides César in Beijós, Portugal.

Birth of second child Manuel Silvério in Beijós, Portugal.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul in Zanzibar.

Birth of third child José António in Zanzibar.

Birth of fourth child Clotilde Augusta in Zanzibar.

World War I begins.

Birth of fifth child Isabel Maria in Zanzibar.

Birth of sixth child Feliciano Artur Geraldo in Zanzibar. Sultan Khalifa bin Harub of Zanzibar is named as the child's godfather.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul in Curitiba, Brazil.

Birth of seventh child Elisa Joana in Curitiba, Brazil.

Birth of eighth child Pedro Nuno in Coimbra, Portugal.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul-General in San Francisco, CA.

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Birth of ninth child Carlos Francisco Fernando in Berkeley, CA.

Birth of tenth child Sebastião Miguel Duarte in Berkeley, CA.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul-General in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Birth of eleventh child Teresinha do Menino Jesus in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul-General in Vigo, Spain.

Birth of twelfth child Luís Filipe in Tuy, Spain.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul-General in Antwerp, Belgium, where he is also Dean of the Consular Corps.

Birth of thirteenth child João Paulo in Louvain, Belgium.

Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany.

Birth of fourteenth child Raquel Hermínia in Louvain, Belgium.

A double tragedy hits the Sousa Mendes family.

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Aristides de Sousa Mendes is appointed Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, France.

Nazi Germany launches World War II with the invasion of Poland.

The government of António de Oliveira Salazar, Dictator of Portugal, issues a directive, CIRCULAR 14, forbidding consular officials from issuing Portuguese visas to refugees from Nazism.

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Under Salazar's dictatorship, Portuguese youth were taught to give the fascist salute.

Nazi Germany invades Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, followed quickly by Northern France.

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Aristides de Sousa Mendes writes to his brother-in-law,

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Paris falls to Germany, and Nazi flags start flying on all the national monuments.

After several days of seclusion, Aristides de Sousa Mendes decides to act. He consults with Angelina, who completely supports his decision.

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Aristides de Sousa Mendes begins issuing visas on an assembly line basis to all comers, including those specifically mentioned in Circular 14: Jews unable to return to their countries of origin, stateless refugees and Russians.

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Aristides de Sousa Mendes's nephew, César de Sousa Mendes, described the scene.

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In the early hours of the morning, Nazi Germany bombs Bordeaux.

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Border between France and Spain at Hendaye/Irun is sealed by order of the Portuguese Ambassador to Spain, and bearers of Portuguese visas issued in Bordeaux or Bayonne are forbidden to pass. The New York Times estimates 10,000 people to be stranded in Nazi-occupied France by this new order. Aristides de Sousa Mendes is recalled to Portugal to face disciplinary action.

Court deposition against Aristides de Sousa Mendes by Pedro Teotónio Pereira, Portuguese Ambassador to Spain, presented as evidence in Sousa Mendes's trial in October of that year.

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Aristides de Sousa Mendes gives a statement at his trial explaining his motivations.

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Aristides de Sousa Mendes is found guilty of disobedience against his government, and is stripped of his position and livelihood.

Birth of fifteenth child, Marie-Rose, in Lisbon. Her mother Andrée Cibial is a musician Sousa Mendes had met in France. Marie-Rose is raised by her maternal uncle and aunt in France.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes writes a letter to his lawyer describing his action.

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Without a means of earning an income, Aristides de Sousa Mendes and his family begin taking meals at the soup kitchen run by the Jewish community of Lisbon and financed by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.

Carlos and Sebastião de Sousa Mendes, born in Berkeley, CA, claim U.S. citizenship and enlist in the U.S. Army.

Article published in a US-based Portuguese newspaper under the pseudonym Onix describes Sousa Mendes's action and the persecution he is suffering from the dictator Salazar.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes suffers a stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed.

Nazi Germany surrenders.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes writes letter to Pope Pius XII begging for help from the Roman Catholic Church, but does not receive a reply.

Death of Angelina de Sousa Mendes.

Aristides de Sousa Mendes marries Andrée Cibial.

Marie-Rose, age 10, meets her father for the first time.

Sebastião de Sousa Mendes publishes a novella, Flight Through Hell, containing a description of his father's story, under the pseudonym Michael d'Avranches.

Death of Aristides de Sousa Mendes at Franciscan Hospital for the Poor, Lisbon, Portugal.

Joana de Sousa Mendes begins writing to Jewish leaders urging them to recognize her late father.

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By order of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of Israel, twenty trees are planted in memory of Aristides de Sousa Mendes by the Jewish National Fund.

Yad Vashem recognizes Aristides de Sousa Mendes as Righteous Among the Nations.

Ceremony in New York at the Israeli Consulate.

Death of António de Oliveira Salazar.

Carnation Revolution in Portugal overthrows the Estado Novo regime of Salazar's successor Marcelo Caetano and establishes a democracy.

Report by Portuguese diplomat Nuno Bessa Lopes establishes the facts of the Sousa Mendes case, including his persecution by the Salazar government, and recommends that his memory be

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Establishment of International Committee to Honor Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, headquartered in Oakland, CA, led by Robert Jacobvitz, John Paul Abranches and Joan Abranches.

Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles holds memorial ceremony honoring Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

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Tree planted for Aristides de Sousa Mendes in the Avenue of the Righteous, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, by Mordecai Paldiel, Director of the Department for the Righteous.

Event in honor of Aristides de Sousa Mendes organized by Portuguese community of New Bedford, MA.

US congressional bill sponsored by Rep. Tony Coelho and Rep. Henry Waxman urging Portugal to recognize Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Comité français en hommage à Aristides de Sousa Mendes is established in Bordeaux, France by Père Bernard Rivière and Manuel Dias Vaz.

Ceremony at Portuguese Embassy in Washington, DC at which President Mario Soares apologizes to the Sousa Mendes family on behalf of the Portuguese government.

Law passed unanimously by the Portuguese Parliament posthumously reinstating Aristides de Sousa Mendes into the diplomatic corps and offering reparations to his descendants.

Portuguese President Mario Soares inaugurates bust of Aristides de Sousa Mendes on esplanade Charles de Gaulle in Bordeaux, France, in a ceremony organized by the Comité français.

National homage to Aristides de Sousa Mendes, Cinema Tivoli, Lisbon, Portugal.

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International homage to Aristides de Sousa Mendes organized by the European Union in Strasbourg, France.

Sousa Mendes family meets in Cabanas de Viriato, Portugal, to establish Fundaçao Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Portugal.

Sousa Mendes story included in Visas for Life exhibition at the United Nations, organized by Eric Saul.

International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation and Angelo Roncalli Committee organize more than 80 commemorations of Aristides de Sousa Mendes on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death.

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UNESCO headquarters in Paris honors Aristides de Sousa Mendes in ceremony.

Launch of Sousa Mendes Virtual Museum website in Portugal, under the direction of architect Luisa Pacheco Marques.

Sousa Mendes Foundation is established in the United States by the Sousa Mendes family, visa recipient families and supporters of the cause.

There's a Mirror in My Heart: Memories of a Righteous Grandfather, an artistic exhibition by Sebastian Mendes, opens at the Yeshiva University Museum, New York.

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Sousa Mendes Foundation organizes panel of visa recipients at Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County, NY.

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Casa do Passal designated as a National Monument of Portugal.

City of Philadelphia, PA honors Aristides de Sousa Mendes on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Olivia Mattis gives Keynote address.

Search is launched to locate Sousa Mendes visa recipients worldwide.

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The United Nations honors diplomat rescuers of the Holocaust on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a screening of the documentary film The Rescuers by Michael W. King.

Journey on the Road to Freedom tour in the footsteps of Aristides de Sousa Mendes and the refugees of 1940.

Work Towards Fairness architectural installation at Sousa Mendes home Casa do Passal by Eric Moed.

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City of Toronto, Canada honors Aristides de Sousa Mendes and his love of children by inaugurating a playground in his name.

City of Rochester, NY honors Aristides de Sousa Mendes on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Louis-Philippe Mendes and Olivia Mattis give Keynote addresses.

Construction begins on the Sousa Mendes home, Casa do Passal, with €316,000 allocated jointly by the European Union and the Portuguese Government.

TAP Portuguese Airlines names one of its fleet, an Airbus A319, after Aristides de Sousa Mendes.

Plaque installed at Portuguese Consulate in Bordeaux where Aristides de Sousa Mendes distributed visas in 1940.

Congregation Adas Israel in Washington, DC inducts Aristides de Sousa Mendes into its Garden of the Righteous.

Portuguese Secretary of State for Culture Jorge Barreto Xavier announces that the European Union has allocated a further €800,000 to the Casa do Passal museum project.

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World Premiere of 'Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides' by Neely Bruce.

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January 2016 Los Angeles Events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 24, 2015
HOLOCAUST RESCUER ARISTIDES DE SOUSA MENDES HONORED AT AMERICAN JEWISH UNIVERSITY AND LOS ANGELES MUSEUM OF THE HOLOCAUST; WORLD PREMIERE OF DRAMATIC ORATORIO “CIRCULAR 14: THE APOTHEOSIS OF ARISTIDES”
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April-December 2016 New York Exhibition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 14, 2016 AMERICAN SEPHARDI FEDERATION HOSTS EXHIBITION AND PUBLIC PROGRAM “PORTUGAL, THE LAST HOPE: SOUSA MENDES’ VISAS TO FREEDOM” AT THE CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY
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June-July 2016 European Journey

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 31, 2016 HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL JOURNEY FROM FRANCE TO PORTUGAL MARKS ESCAPE ROUTE FROM NAZI-OCCUPIED EUROPE
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September 7, 2016 Connecticut Film Screening

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 24, 2016 HOLOCAUST RESCUER ARISTIDES DE SOUSA MENDES TO BE HONORED IN STAMFORD, CT
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Holocaust Organizations, Scholars and Educators Sound Alarm on Surge in Hate Crimes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2016
Call to Action to Lawmakers and Citizens
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January-February 2017 Texas Events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 3, 2017
HOUSTON HONORS ARISTIDES DE SOUSA MENDES
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Holocaust Organizations and Historians Urge Action to Preserve US Government Agency that Monitors Anti-Semitism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2017
Call to Action to Lawmakers and Citizens
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Posthumous Honor for Sousa Mendes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2017
PORTUGAL HONORS ARISTIDES DE SOUSA MENDES
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April 24, 2017 Kentucky Film Screening

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2017 HOLOCAUST RESCUER ARISTIDES DE SOUSA MENDES TO BE HONORED IN LEXINGTON, KY ON THE OCCASION OF HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY
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May-August 2017 Maine Exhibition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 19, 2017 EXHIBITION ON RESCUERS AT THE HOLOCAUST AND HUMAN RIGHTS CENTER OF MAINE
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Sousa Mendes Foundation Launches Archival Management Project to Document and Preserve the Sousa Mendes Legacy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2017 PRESERVING HISTORY FOR THE FUTURE
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Refugee Advocate Maggie Favretti to be Honored

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2017 SOUSA MENDES FOUNDATION GALA "A TOAST TO FREEDOM!" AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017
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Holocaust Authority Dr. Eva Fogelman to be Honored

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2017 SOUSA MENDES FOUNDATION GALA "A TOAST TO FREEDOM!" AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017
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Congressman Jerrold Nadler to be Honored

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2017 SOUSA MENDES FOUNDATION GALA "A TOAST TO FREEDOM!" AT THE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HERITAGE ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017
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January 2018 Utah Performance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 10, 2017 THE SOUSA MENDES STORY PRESENTED IN THE MORMON TABERNACLE ON THE OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY, SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2018
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Girl Scouts of Utah Receive Holocaust Education Through Performance of Sousa Mendes Oratorio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 6, 2018 GSU INITIATED UNPRECEDENTED EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF SUPPORT
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