A Good Man in Evil Times: The Heroic Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes -- The Man Who Saved the Lives of Countless Refugess in World War II [Hardcover]

Jose-Alain Fralon (Author), Peter Graham (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2001

A long-unknown story of individual courage in the face of an authoritarian fascist bureaucracy unfolds in this inspiring biographical tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul to France in the early years of the Second World War. After the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, Aristides de Sousa Mendes found himself continually more restricted by the policies of Portugal's prime minister, Dr. Antonio Oliveira de Salazar, who, like Franco in Spain, assumed a position of neutrality but did not wish to offend Hitler. It was Salazar's Circular 14 -- which denied, on the basis of race and religion, visas to the swelling number of refugees to Portugal -- that prompted the fifty-five-year-old Sousa Mendes's first acts of disobedience in his office at the consulate in the temporary French capital of Bordeaux. Over a period of six months in 1940, in accordance with his own conscience rather than Salazar's dictates, Sousa Mendes signed many thousands of visas that spared their recipients, ten thousand of them Jews, a terrible fate in the Nazi death camps. Sousa Mendes's acts of private resistance earned him Salazar's wrath, a forced early retirement, and years of dire poverty. They also won him a place in the pantheon of truly just men and, in Israel, a forest commemorating his tremendous heroism.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A career diplomat for Portugal, Sousa Mendes was brought up in an aristocratic and pious Roman Catholic family. It is worth struggling through this stilted translation of the less-relevant first part of his life to learn about the heroic conviction he developed at the age of 55 to defy his superiors in order to save the lives of refugees from Nazism. In 1939 refugees flooded France, trying to obtain visas to Portugal, a neutral country during WWII. Portugal's prime minister, who did not want to alienate Hitler, issued "Circular 14," which effectively prohibited Portuguese consuls from fulfilling a "centuries-old tradition of hospitality" and, in explicitly excluding Jews, "officially introduced a hitherto unknown element of racial or religious segregation into the question of immigration." Finding this policy utterly unconscionable, Sousa Mendes, Portugal's consul general in France's temporary capital of Bordeaux, issued several passports to those fleeing France, and then, overwhelmed by the situation, took to his bed for three days. When he got up, he told his wife (who supported his actions) and children that God had instructed him to obey his conscience. Sousa Mendes set up a virtual assembly line and signed visas for the hordes of refugees who soon swamped his office and residence. He was eventually dismissed from the foreign service without a pension and died in poverty in 1954. Posthumously honored by Israel, he without doubt saved the lives of ten thousand Jews. Fralon, a journalist for Le Monde in Paris, renders a compelling tale of a courageous political act. 16 pages of b&w photos.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A Parisian journalist for Le Monde, Fralon tells the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul to France who saved thousands of Jewish lives during World War II. The book begins with Mendes's childhood, family, and career. In addition, we learn about Portugal's "neutral" policy of the time. In spite of this policy, Mendes continually assisted refugees with food and shelter but most importantly by signing thousands of visas so that they could leave the country, saving many Jews from the concentration camps. Mendes was then forced to retire, living for years in poverty. It was not until the 1980s and 1990s that his actions were officially recognized as heroic by Portugal. Mendes was not the only man to assist refugees with visas, but he is part of a small, courageous group that includes Sweden's Raoul Wallenberg and American Varian Fry. This book is written in accessible language and provides a memorable account of a man who stood up for what he thought was right. Recommended for Holocaust and World War II collections. Mary Salony, West Virginia Northern Community Coll., Wheeling
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; First Edition edition (April 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786708484
• ISBN-13: 978-0786708482
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #926,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, The Recognition, March 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: A Good Man in Evil Times: The Heroic Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes -- The Man Who Saved the Lives of Countless Refugess in World War II (Hardcover)

It is regratable that great men are rarely aknowledge as so in life. Aristides de Sousa Mendes was no exception, but his acts were expeptional. This book was long due. It's finally here, it's very well written, a just tribute to a men of honour, and I thank the author for it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars overdue recognition of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, September 29, 2008

By 

Reader (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Good Man in Evil Times: The Heroic Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes -- The Man Who Saved the Lives of Countless Refugess in World War II (Hardcover)

Aristides de Sousa Mendes saved ten thousand during the holocaust and paid a high cost for his ethical actions. This acounting should be more widely known--as should this hero's name. The individual stories make it even more compelling.

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book on an outstanding human being, May 24, 2010

By 

M. Avila "A Portuguese Tribune subscriber" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Good Man in Evil Times: The Heroic Story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes -- The Man Who Saved the Lives of Countless Refugess in World War II (Hardcover)

Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes (1885-1954) who served as Consul General of Portugal in San Francisco, CA from 1921 to 1924, risked everything -- his career, his family, his reputation, his savings, everything -- to save over 30,000 World War II refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied territories, 10,000 of whom Jewish, by providing Portuguese visas as Consul General of Portugal in Bordeaux, France. He, himself a Catholic, said "I would rather stand with God against man, than with man against God." Virtually unknown even among the Portuguese until fairly recently, he was selected in 2007 as the third Greatest Portuguese of all time. Three of his 14 children, Carlos (1922-1999), Sebastian (1923-2006), and John Paul Abranches (1932-2009) lived and died in the U.S.

José Alain Fralon, a journalist for Le Monde in Paris, describes Dr. Sousa Mendes' life especially from the 1930's in Belgium and France to his death in Lisbon in 1954. An excellent and quick read that encourages further reading on this war hero.