Written by Elizabeth Brown
Illustrated by Melissa Castrillón
San Francisco, CA : Chronicle Books, 2025. Informational.
This book tells the story of Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who assisted Jews in fleeing France as Hitler's army invaded. De Sousa Mendes was in charge of overseeing visas to foreigners hoping to move to Portugal. Although Portugal's official stance in the war was to stay neutral, they, like many other countries during that time, refused to take in Jewish refugees. As France was about to fall, de Sousa Mendes saw the sheer number of Jews lined up outside the embassy hoping there would be some way to avoid Hitler's army, and he decided to ignore his orders and take a stand. He spent 23 days in June and July granting passage to as many people as possible, eventually shortening his signature and signing any paper he could get his hands on, even scraps of newspaper, to allow passage to all of those that were waiting outside of the embassy. Although at the time he was stripped of both his post and his home, this book now honors him as a hero who saved tens of thousands of Jewish lives, including those of artist Salvador Dalí, and Curious George creators H.A. and Margret Rey.
If you are interested in World War II stories, this book is a beautifully written and delicately illustrated option. Those around the world should know the name Aristides de Sousa Mendes, and this is an excellent choice for both teaching kids and adults about this amazing historical figure.
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