The Legacy of a Portuguese Diplomat Who Saved Thousands in WWII

Guests: Gerald Mendes, grandson of Aristides de Sousa Mendes; Dan Mattis, visa recipient whose life was saved by de Sousa Mendes during WWII A remarkable story of heroism is Top of Mind this hour as we mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In the spring of 1940, as Germany invaded France, thousands of people lined up at the Portuguese embassy in Bordeaux, hoping to secure a visa to travel to Portugal and from there to some place safe from Hitler’s grasp. A Portuguese diplomat named Aristides de Sousa Mendes saved their lives in what one historian has called “the largest rescue action by a single individual during the Holocaust.”