Portugal, the Consuls, and the Jewish Refugees ... - Yad Vashem

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islands….I did it without the request of strangers because my reasonrefused to conceive that a civilized country would close its gates to one ofthe world’s most famous practitioners of clinical medicine simply for socalledracial reasons. 50At the end of the letter, after relating their case histories and insisting on thewell-being and future of the three Jews from the elite ― and even appealing tothe humanitarian feelings of Salazar ― Veiga Simõesfearfully andapprehensively warned the dictator of the eventual arrival of Czech Jews[from the annexed Sudetenland], armed with passports, but without the red J,which would render difficult the “racial” identification of the holders. 51 For theambassador, famous, wealthy, and persecuted Jews were victims, while thepersecuted and dispossessed masses were Jews. Nevertheless, hiscorrespondence ― dictated by his liberal-democratic leanings together withhis anti-Nazism ― is free of hatred, racism, or antisemitism.The consul general in Hamburg granted visas to Jews on his own initiativeand with the approval of Veiga Simões, and, by establishing direct contactswith the civilian governors of the Azores and Madeira, enabled the admissionof Jews. 52 Thus he bypassed the PVDE, the MNE, and the minister (Salazar).Veiga Simões and the consul general in Hamburg experienced severaldifficulties. First, the tendency of the PVDE to centralize and controlimmigration, demanding the subordination of ambassadors and consuls, evenat the price of the loss of their prestige. For example, a letter from the PVDE,signed by Captain Paulo Cumano and addressed to the Marcus and Harting50Ibid. The PVDE authorized the arrival of these people as tourists during aperiod of thirty days, that is, within the limits established by the decree ofOctober 10, 1938, and also as a show of authority. Letter of the PVDE to theGeneral Director of Political Affairs and Internal Administration of the MNE,Lisbon, March 3, 1939, AMNE 20. P. A-43, M-38-A.51Three days later, on January 17, 1939, he again warned the MNE aboutvisas authorized by the PVDE to Jews lacking funds and proof of their beingable to go on to other countries. Telegram of January 17, 1939, AMNE, 2o. P.A-43, M-38.52Confidential letter of Paulo Cumano to the Secretary-General of the MNE,Lisbon, April 11, 1939, AMNE 2o. P. A-43, M-38-A. The consul addressed theCivil Governor of Ponta Delgada asking for authorization for twenty-eightJewish families to land.__________________________________________________________________________16/31Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies
firm of Lisbon, was presented in the Hamburg consulate declaring that“residence in Portugal having been authorized to a certain person, a ticket toPortugal may be sold to him, independently of the consular visa.” 53 In April1939, Mrs. Franziska Elisabeth Deutsch, mentioned above, widow of thepresident of the AEG industry, did not yet have her visa authorized by theInternational Police. Embarrassed and discredited, Veiga Simões ordered theconsul in Hamburg to stamp her passport with the visa, even without theauthorization of the PVDE, and appealed to Salazar not to hinder the landingof Mrs. Deutsch:Your Excellency, to defend the prestige of the Portuguese diplomaticrepresentation, you will of course give the Police incisive orders toplace no difficulties to her landing in Lisbon, and this time to abstainfrom undermining the authority of the diplomatic and consularrepresentatives vis-à-vis all of Berlin, as they have done in other cases.54The second reason is more serious. It refers to the critical attitude of VeigaSimões toward the German regime, which was not backed by the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and even less so by the PVDE. However, what was bearableuntil the collapse of France, which brought Hitler’s troops to the Pyrenees, hadbecome intolerable from the point of view of diplomacy and the efforts atneutrality that Salazar desired. Nobody, therefore, was surprised when VeigaSimões was substituted by the pro-Germanic Count of Tovar on July 31,1940. On his return, Veiga Simões was investigated; the information gatheredabout him clarifies the fate of the circle of those who were personae nongratae to Salazar:I don’t think that at this moment he can be a disturbing element sincehe lacks followers, and given his long absence from the country. Inspite of his sympathy for the cause of the so-called democracies I don’tbelieve he has any kind of links with their representatives.Nevertheless, he does not hide his faith in parliamentarism, saying thathere one notices immediately the lack of liberty and that without53Veiga Simões to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Salazar), Berlin, May 4,1939, AMNE, 2o. P. A-43, M-38-A.54Veiga Simões to Salazar, Berlin, April 8, 1939. AMNE, 2o. P. A-43, M-38-A.__________________________________________________________________________17/31Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies
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Page 3 and 4: historiography remains incomplete s
Page 5 and 6: these passed through Lisbon in the
Page 7 and 8: future of Portugal in the 1930s and
Page 9 and 10: instructions to shipping companies
Page 11 and 12: 36 For someone requesting visas, th
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Page 15: Simões to grant visas to Jews with
Page 19 and 20: foreigners 58 without having been a
Page 21 and 22: The incidents took such proportions
Page 23 and 24: they obtained transit visas, permis
Page 25 and 26: equested to contribute to a Portugu
Page 27: problems of the honorary consul of
Page 30 and 31: corresponding circles of other nati

Portugal, the Consuls, and the Jewish Refugees ... - Yad Vashem

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