Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story (NR)

synopsis

In June 1040, when Nazi troops invaded France, an amazing rescue operation sprang into being. One man, on his own, defying the direct orders of his government, chose to grant visas out of Occupied France to an estimated 30,000 refugees including around 10,000 Jews. This remarkable true story has been described by historians as 'the largest rescue action by a single individual during the holocaust.' The man was Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul in Bordeaux.