Podcast on Refugees in Lisbon 1940

Lisbon, 1939-45: the untold story of Portugal and the Jewish refugees (27 Jan 2011)includes Aristides de Sousa Mendes Podcast: UCL Lunch Hour Lecture: Lisbon, 1939-45: the untold story of Portugal and the Jewish refugees.

Dr Neill Lochery (UCL Hebrew and Jewish Studies), http://snd.sc/jZlJZ1

Neill Lochery on Portugal's gold dilemma

Members of various Jewish welfare organizations operated in Lisbon to rescue European Jewish refugees, including the American Joint Distribution Committee and Hicem.

After Germany invaded and conquered France in mid-1940, HICEM decided to close its Paris offices and move them to Lisbon, Portugal. Portugal, a neutral country, was friendly with the Allies and had an officially recognized Jewish community. Thus, HICEM simply functioned as the immigration section of the Jewish community council. In addition, because Lisbon was a neutral port, by July 1940 it became the foremost route for Jews to escape Europe for North and South America. Other organizations also moved their European offices to Lisbon at that time, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (known as the JDC or Joint) and the American Friends Service Committee.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/hicem-1#ixzz1OLNLvn7R

See more here

Lisbon: Harbor of Hope and Intrigue Letter by Saint Exupery Milgram on Portugal and the Refugees 1938-1941