Vilar FormosoPortugal Jewish History of Portugal Is in itself a Memorial to the Refugees as well as to the Consul Aristides Sousa Mendes and an homage to the Second World War refugees. Passionate Tours of Portugal, with a passionate team of expert private guides. The Jewish […]
Vilar Formoso
Vilar Formoso Portugal
Jewish History of Portugal
Is in itself a Memorial to the Refugees as well as to the Consul Aristides Sousa Mendes and an homage to the Second World War refugees.
Passionate Tours of Portugal, with a passionate team of expert private guides.
The Jewish History of Vilar Formoso
Unveiled in September 2017, this Museum occupies two old warehouses at the train station of Vilar Formoso. This village on the edge of the Spanish borders, was gateway to the thousands of refugees fleeing the Nazi troupes and the Holocaust. The although poor, but hearty local population, took in and fed, with little possessions they had, all those who found themselves there, without knowing what the future had in store for them.
Vilar Formoso
Private Tours from Lisbon or Porto
Given the neutral position of Portugal in the Second World War, thousands of refugees found in our country a safe haven as well a gateway to South and Central America. The Peace Frontier Memorial is also tribute to Aristides de Sousa Mendes, consul of Portugal in Bordeaux, responsible for issuing thousands of visas that allowed several families to flee France, to cross Spain and safely arrive in Portugal, where the effects of the Second World War had not been felt. This initiative of the Portuguese consul is regarded as the “greatest rescue mission singlehandedly executed during the Holocaust”. The Memorial was designed to preserve the memory and the actions of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, allowing thousands of Europeans to escape the horrors of the Nazism.