FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 22, 2011
ARISTIDES DE SOUSA MENDES, HOLOCAUST HERO WHO RESCUED
THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN, TO BE HONORED ON LONG ISLAND
On Saturday, April 2, from 1:00-5:00 p.m. the Mineola Memorial Library will host an event honoring one of the great heroes of the Second World War. Aristides de Sousa Mendes is credited with saving an estimated 30,000 lives including those of thousands of children. The event is being presented by the Sousa Mendes Foundation and the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation in cooperation with the Village of Mineola. The Mineola Memorial Library is located at 195 Marcellus Road, Mineola, NY.
This family event will include storytelling, a film, an exhibition, refreshments and more. Guests of honor will be New York State Senator Jack Martins, a Portuguese-American politician, and J. J. Prins, a Sousa Mendes visa recipient who was rescued as a young child.
Sousa Mendes was the Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, France during the Second World War. In 1940, after the invasion by the Nazi forces of Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and France, he found himself confronted with the reality of untold numbers of refugees desperate to escape to neutral Portugal. But the Portuguese official government policy was to not allow any refugees within its borders. Sousa Mendes chose to defy these inhumane orders and follow his conscience instead. Within a short period of time in May and June of 1940 he issued visas to Portugal to anyone who asked, and he was harshly punished by his government for his action.
The program of the event will be as follows:
1:00 p.m. Storytelling for children from the Curious George series, whose authors Hans and Margret Rey were saved by Aristides de Sousa Mendes.
1:45 p.m. Reception of Portuguese delicacies and a chance to view the exhibition “These are my people! The story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.”
2:30 p.m. Remarks by Charles Sleefe, Director, Mineola Memorial Library, and Senator Jack Martins.
2:45 p.m. Presentation of the film The Consul of Bordeaux, a fictionalized account of the story of Sousa Mendes.
4:15 p.m. A word from Sousa Mendes visa recipient J. J. Prins, followed by a period of audience questions, and closing remarks by Olivia Mattis, Sousa Mendes Foundation, curator of the exhibition.
The event is being organized by João Crisóstomo on behalf of the Sousa Mendes Foundation and the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
For more information please go to www.sousamendesfoundation.org or call (206) 426-5951.
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