Luiz Martins de Souza Dantas
Encyclopedia
Luis Martins de Souza Dantas (Rio de Janeiro
, 1876 - Paris
, 1954) was a Brazil
ian diplomat who was awarded the Righteous Among The Nations
by the Israeli Supreme Court
in June 2003 for his participation during the Holocaust in helping Jews
in France
escape. It is estimated he saved 800 people, 425 confirmed to be Jewish. His actions were not limited to saving Jews but other people considered undesirables according to Nazism
, such as communists and homosexuals.
for entry into Brazil
. After being ordered to stop issuing these visas, he would often forge the issue date to a date prior to the order. He would also remove any mention of Jewish ancestry from the applicant's history. Unlike other diplomats at the time, Martins did not grant visas for personal gain or to a select group.
In a 1942 letter to Brazil's foreign minister Oswaldo Aranha
, Souza said the camps set up by the Nazis were like something out of Dante's Inferno
where Jews
were either slaves or were exterminated.
Among those he helped save were the 12 year old Felix G. Rohatyn, a future investment banker, and the Rohatyn family.
An investigation was opened by the administrative department of the public service in charge of Vargas. He was accused of granting irregular visas. In an Itamaraty telegram, Souza Dantas affirmed in his defense that after the prohibition he did not grant "even a visa". It was a lie. Chana Strozemberg, a woman from Poland, obtained a visa issued in January 1941, a month after the prohibition, but with false information.
Eventually the investigation and suspicions of Luis Martins de Souza Dantas were enough for him to be recalled by Getúlio Vargas
, the Brazilian President of the time, where he faced disciplinary hearing for his actions. He was found guilty of breaking the Brazilian Jewish immigration policy. He was able to escape punishment since he was technically retired and only working for the government on special request.
After the war he returned to Paris where he died in obscurity on April 14, 1954.
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, 1876 - Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1954) was a Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian diplomat who was awarded the Righteous Among The Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
by the Israeli Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
in June 2003 for his participation during the Holocaust in helping Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
escape. It is estimated he saved 800 people, 425 confirmed to be Jewish. His actions were not limited to saving Jews but other people considered undesirables according to Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, such as communists and homosexuals.
Reason For Award
Luis Martins de Souza Dantas was serving as the Brazilian ambassador to France and to the Vichy Government during the German occupation. Despite complaints and investigations into his activities by other Brazilian diplomats as well as the tightening of Brazilian immigration laws regarding Jewish immigration, he was motivated by "a Christian feeling of mercy" to save hundreds from persecution by the Nazis by issuing diplomatic visasVisa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
for entry into Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. After being ordered to stop issuing these visas, he would often forge the issue date to a date prior to the order. He would also remove any mention of Jewish ancestry from the applicant's history. Unlike other diplomats at the time, Martins did not grant visas for personal gain or to a select group.
In a 1942 letter to Brazil's foreign minister Oswaldo Aranha
Oswaldo Aranha
Osvaldo Euclides de Sousa Aranha was a Brazilian politician, diplomat and statesman, who came to national prominence in 1930 under Getúlio Vargas....
, Souza said the camps set up by the Nazis were like something out of Dante's Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as...
where Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
were either slaves or were exterminated.
Among those he helped save were the 12 year old Felix G. Rohatyn, a future investment banker, and the Rohatyn family.
An investigation was opened by the administrative department of the public service in charge of Vargas. He was accused of granting irregular visas. In an Itamaraty telegram, Souza Dantas affirmed in his defense that after the prohibition he did not grant "even a visa". It was a lie. Chana Strozemberg, a woman from Poland, obtained a visa issued in January 1941, a month after the prohibition, but with false information.
Eventually the investigation and suspicions of Luis Martins de Souza Dantas were enough for him to be recalled by Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history to Emperor Pedro II...
, the Brazilian President of the time, where he faced disciplinary hearing for his actions. He was found guilty of breaking the Brazilian Jewish immigration policy. He was able to escape punishment since he was technically retired and only working for the government on special request.
After the war he returned to Paris where he died in obscurity on April 14, 1954.
External links
- The Righteous Among Us, Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
Magazine, no.31 p12-13 - Righteous Among the Nations Honored by Yad Vashem | Brazil