III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 186 

Honoring the humanitarian work of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral 

e Abranches to save the lives of French Jews and other persons during 

the Holocaust. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 28, 2021 

Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mr. MURPHY) submitted the following 

resolution; which was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the humanitarian work of Dr. Aristides de Sousa 

Mendes do Amaral e Abranches to save the lives of 

French Jews and other persons during the Holocaust. 

Whereas Nazi Germany invaded France on May 10, 1940, 

and after brief but intense hostilities, secured the surrender of France on June 22, 1940; 

Whereas, as a consequence of the Nazi conquest, the lives of 

French Jews and Jewish and non-Jewish persons of 

other nationalities seeking refuge in France were put in 

grave and imminent danger; 

Whereas many thousands of those persons fled to Bordeaux, 

France, and elsewhere in southwest France, seeking to 

traverse Spain and escape to Portugal; 


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•SRES 186 ATS 

Whereas, in 1939, the Government of Portugal under Antonio de Oliveira Salazar issued Circular 14, which sharply 

restricted the availability of visas to displaced persons; 

Whereas the Consul General of Portugal in Bordeaux was 

Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches; 

Whereas, in June 1940, confronting a humanitarian crisis 

and in defiance of Circular 14, Sousa Mendes, assisted 

principally by his diplomatic colleagues Jose de Seabra, 

Manuel de Vieira Braga, and Emile Gissot, issued without charge tens of thousands of visas, including thousands to fleeing Jews; 

Whereas Sousa Mendes reportedly stated, ‘‘I declare that I 

shall give, free of charge, a visa to whosoever shall request it. My desire is to be with God against Man rather 

than with Man and against God.’’; 

Whereas those visas, as well as Sousa Mendes’ personal intervention at the border between France and Spain, enabled 

the refugees to reach safety in Portugal; 

Whereas, in July 1940, the Government of Portugal under 

Oliveira Salazar responded by recalling Sousa Mendes, 

dismissing Sousa Mendes later from active diplomatic 

service, and subjecting him to economic retribution and 

subsequent ostracism; 

Whereas, in 1941, Sousa Mendes explained, ‘‘In truth, I disobeyed, but my disobedience does not dishonor me. I 

chose to defy an order that to me represented the persecution of true castaways who sought with all their 

strength to be saved from Hitler’s wrath. Above the 

order, for me, was God’s law, and that’s the one I have 

always sought to adhere to without hesitation. The true 

lesson of Christianity is to love one’s neighbor.’’; 


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•SRES 186 ATS 

Whereas, in 1954, Sousa Mendes died penniless in Lisbon, 

Portugal, under the cloud of the discipline imposed for 

his defiance; 

Whereas, in 1966, Yad Vashem recognized Sousa Mendes as 

a Righteous Among the Nations for his selfless efforts to 

save Jewish lives at personal risk to himself, making 

Sousa Mendes the first of a number of diplomatic rescuers to be so honored; 

Whereas, in 1988, the United States Senate passed Senate 

Resolution 270, 100th Congress, agreed to June 23, 

1988, to commemorate Sousa Mendes’ humanitarian efforts; 

Whereas, in 1986, President of Portugal Mario Soares posthumously rehabilitated Sousa Mendes, decorating Sousa 

Mendes as an Officer of the Order of Liberty; 

Whereas, in 1988, the Parliament of Portugal posthumously 

granted Sousa Mendes the status of Ambassador; 

Whereas, in 1995, President of Portugal Mario Soares posthumously bestowed on Sousa Mendes the Grand Cross of 

the Order of Christ; 

Whereas, in 2017, President of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de 

Sousa posthumously bestowed on Sousa Mendes Portugal’s highest honor, the Grand Cross of the Order of 

Liberty; 

Whereas, in 2020, the Parliament of Portugal unanimously 

voted to memorialize Sousa Mendes in the National Pantheon in Lisbon; and 

Whereas, in 2020, on the 80th anniversary of his heroism, 

the United States Commission for the Preservation of 

America’s Heritage Abroad initiated commemorations in 


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•SRES 186 ATS 

honor of Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux, France, and Portugal: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) honors and salutes the humanitarian and 

3 principled work of Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do 

4 Amaral e Abranches, Consul of Portugal in Bor5 deaux, France, for acting with great courage and at 

6 personal risk to issue transit visas to French Jews 

7 and other persons, sparing them from Nazi occupa8 tion and the Holocaust, thus saving many thousands 

9 of innocent lives; and 

10 (2) directs the Secretary of the Senate to trans11 mit copies of this resolution to— 

12 (A) the President; and 

13 (B) the President of the Assembly of the 

14 Republic of Portugal. 

Æ 


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