Preserving the legacy of Aristides de Sousa Mendes to honor family members lost

Matuzewitz family, Llodz, Poland

The  bitter and sweet memories both stay with us, with the dramas of the past stored quietly under better memories we collect as we move forward.

A month ago my friend Olivia Mattis shared a photo of 8 members of her family in Llodz, Poland, 5 of whom were murdered by Hitler.

We are so glad that other members of Olivia's family found Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux , 83 years ago today, and that Aristides's moral courage has inspired Olivia to do such great work to make his Act of Conscience known and to build the Sousa Mendes Foundation -US, for the last 13 years!

Obrigada Olivia Mattis!

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, diplomats and descendents of Sousa Mendes and of the families he saved at UN ceremony 2019

"The MATUZEWITZ family obtained visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux on May 31 and June 3, 1940 after a chance encounter on the streets of Bordeaux between Joseph MATUZEWITZ and Rabbi Chaim KRUGER, Sousa Mendes's right-hand man."

Matuzevitz visa 31-May-1940

ASM visa dated 28-May - Moed family visited Casa do Passal in 2013

The MOED family received visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux on May 28, 1940.

They crossed into Portugal, where they lived in Porto. They sailed on the Nea Hellas from Lisbon to New York in September 1940.

Leon MOED received a visa from Aristides de Sousa Mendes on May 28, 1940.

He went on to become and architect in the US.

In 2013, his grandson Eric Moed created an award-winning installation in Casa do Passal, Work Towards Fairness, opened in the presence of a visitors organized by the Sousa Mendes Foundation-US in the Journey on the Road to Freedom, including other ASM Visa families, Sousa Mendes family members, local officials and the public. Casa do Passal was then in ruins, and restoration began the following year.

Moed 1940 http://sousamendesfoundation.org/family/moed

Passal Moed 2013 https://archinect.com/news/article/78217344/work-towards-fairness-restoring-the-casa-do-passal-in-honor-of-its-humanitarian-owner 

Journey on the Road to Freedom 2013

I am alive thanks to Aristides de Sousa Mendes

Making of video https://youtu.be/5Ngcm7AVHnI