Otto von Habsburg awarded Medal of Merit of Macedonia

President Ivanov awards Otto von Habsburg with Medal of Merit
Monday, 17 January 2011

Otto von Habsburg, the eldest son of Charles I, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, is awarded with the Medal of Merit of Macedonia under a decision of President Gjorge Ivanov.

The decoration is a recognition of Otto von Habsburg's personal engagement, as former chair of the Pan-European Union and member of the European Parliament, in promoting Macedonia's European future.

The medal will be presented to Otto von Habsburg's son Georg on January 18.

Otto von Habsburg, born in 1912, became Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia in 1916 when his father, Archduke Charles, ascended to the throne. However, in 1918, at the end of the First World War, the monarchies were abolished, the Republics of Austria and Hungary founded instead, and the family was forced into exile.

Otto von Habsburg spent the following years in Switzerland and in Madeira, where Karl died prematurely in 1922, making him pretender to the throne at the age of ten. Meanwhile, the Austrian parliament had officially expelled the Habsburg dynasty and confiscated all the official property (Habsburgergesetz of April 3, 1919). In 1935 he graduated from the University of Louvain, having studied social and political science. Otto spent most of the war years in Washington (1940-1944), after escaping from Austria to Portugal with a visa issued by the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux Aristides de Sousa Mendes. A fervent patriot, he had opposed the Nazi "Anschluss" of Austria of 1938 and also fought Hitler's regime from America. After the war, he lived in exile in France and Spain.

Well after the end of the Second World War, Otto von Habsburg finally renounced all claims to the Austrian throne (1961) and was eventually allowed to return to his home country in 1966.

An early advocate of a unified Europe, Otto was president of the International Pan European Union from 1973 to 2004, the oldest European unification movement. He served from 1979 till 1999 as a Member of the European Parliament for the conservative Bavarian CSU party, becoming the Senior Member of the supranational body.

Today, Otto von Habsburg lives near Munic

Source: http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17380/45/

Cultura e Desenvolvimento em discussão, 29-Janeiro, Viseu

Conferência: O Sector Cultural como Vector de Desenvolvimento Regional

Conferencista: Prof Alfredo Simões, Departamento de Gestão, IPV, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu

Data: sábado, 29-Janeiro-2011, 15h

Local: Museu Grão Vasco, Viseu

Fonte: Museu Grão Vasco

Memória do Holocausto nas Bibliotecas a 27-Janeiro-2011

Evento: Cerimónia de Evocação do Dia de Memória do Holocausto
Data: quinta-feira, 27-Janeiro-2011, 18h30
Local: Biblioteca da Assembleia da República
Programa:
• João Rebelo, Presidente do Grupo Parlamentar de Amizade Portugal - Israel
• José Oulman Carp, Representante da Comunidade Israelita em Lisboa
• Ehud Gol, Embaixador do Estado de Israel em Lisboa
• Kathrin Meyer, Secretária-Geral da Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education
• Jaime Gama, Presidente da Assembleia da República

O Coro da Assembleia da República interpretará as seguintes canções:
The Dreydl Song (tradicional isrealita)
La Rose Enflorece (canção sefardita - Harm: Emílio Reina)
Shalom Chaverim (Israeli Round)

******
Evento: Exposição e documentários
Local: A biblioteca escolar da Escola Beatriz Ângelo na Guarda, cujo patrono é Aristides de Sousa Mendes, vai recordar o holocausto em sua homenagem. Um homem de coragem, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, decidui ajudar aqueles que fugiam da barbárie nazi, e por isso foi punido e ostracizado.
Aristides escolheu “estar com Deus contra os homens “ em vez de “estar com os homens contra Deus” e por isso é um exemplo de dignidade e generosidade
Ver também http://extra.globo.com/noticias/religiao-e-fe/rosiane-rodrigues/holocaustomemoria-sobrevivencia-835277.html
A Biblioteca Municipal de Carregal do Sal tem uma colecção interessante de livros e obras relacionadas com o tema de Aristides de Sousa Mendes. O Catálogo da Biblioteca pode ser consultado aqui.

Sousa Mendes remembered in Canada

The Consulate of Sweden in Vancouver, Canada celebrates the memory of Raoul Wallenberg annually.

This year, the event on 16-January-2011, also remmembered Aristides de Sousa Mendes with the showing of the film Désobeir and the presence with Portuguese diplomats, including Carlos de Sousa Amaro, Consul-General of Portugal

UNESCO/Bilbao prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights

The 2010 UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights was awarded to Asma Jahangir, a renowned human rights defender and lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Alongside the prize, UNESCO also awarded Corporación Parque por la Paz Villa Grimaldi (Villa Grimaldi Peace Park) in Chile an Honorable Mention for its contribution to building a universal culture of human rights.

The biennial UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights was established in 2008 thanks to a generous endowment from the City of Bilbao and enlarges the scope of the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education (1978-2006).

The Prize rewards the outstanding contributions made by organizations and individuals to the cause of human rights through the means of education and research and serves to raise awareness of human rights, particularly among decision-makers and the general public.

Sousa Mendes story in exhibition in Nassau County, New York

The Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in partnership with the Sousa Mendes Foundation US is inaugurating an exhibition:

“‘These are my people!’ The story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes.” T

he exhibition will open on Sunday, February 6th, 2011 with a special event from 2:00-4:00 p.m. and will run until Saturday, March 26th, 2011.

The exhibit will be held in the Holocaust Center’s newly renovated temporary exhibit gallery.

See also http://amigosdesousamendes.blogspot.com/2010/12/story-of-sousa-mendes-in-nassau-county.html

Sousa Mendes story included in the film "The Rescuers" premieres in California

How far would you go to save a life? 
...asks the new  film "THE RESCUERS" which will premiere at the Palm Springs International Film Festival tomorrow.
Aristides de Sousa Mendes certainly faced this question.  He realized he was the right person, in the right place at the right time, Bordeaux, June 1940.
Sousa Mendes was one of the first persons to answer  YES,  I will save all of those people.

Film Premiere:  THE RESCUERS 
Dates:        Sunday, 9-January-2011, 7pm; Thursday, 13-January-2011, 4p,
Location:    The Palm Springs International Film Festival ,  Palm Theatre, Palm Springs, California
Director:  Michael King, mking...rescuersdoc.com
Executive Producer:  Joyce D Mandell, www.RESCUERSDOC.com

(O Acto de Consciência de  Mendes é uma das 13  histórias no filme "Os Salvadores" que estreia amanhã em Palm Springs, California.)

SEE
Contact:  http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Michael-King-Productions--Rescuers-Documentary.html?soid=1103863315372&aid=H1DUR-3bk0c  
The film trailer  http://www.rescuersdoc.com/Trailer
The blog http://rescuersdocumentary.blogspot.com/