Aristides de Sousa Mendes O' Consul Injusticado, Righteous Gentle

Based on archival materials and testimonies, this TV documentary tells the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes (1885-1954), a Portuguese diplomat in Bordeaux, France, who fought against his own government for the safety of Jewish refugees soon after the fall of France. During 16-23/6/40, he issued Portuguese visas free of charge, to over 30,000 refugees seeking to escape the Nazi terror, 12,000 of who were Jews. The Portuguese government ordered his immediate recall to Lisbon and he was dismissed with all his retirement pensions suspended. With 13 children, and no other means at his disposal, Sousa Mendes sank into poverty and died forgotten in 1954. In 1966, through the efforts of his daughter Joana in the US, Yad Vashem posthumously honored him as a "righteous among the nations." In 1985 an international committee for the perpetuation of Sousa Mendes's memory was set up. Bending to foreign pressure, in 1988 the Portuguese National Assembly agreed to award him a full rehabilitation.