From Ciudad Rodrigo it was a short drive to the Portuguese border town Vilar Formoso. We noticed a museum called Fronteira da Paz, which had spiked our interest.
We first thought, the museum would be about the history of the border to Spain, but instead it shone a light on a part of our recent history which we were not really aware of: the escape route for thousands of Europeans persecuted by the Nazis.
The museum tells the stories of many individuals, which tried to reach a safe destination via Portugal. The one person who made that escape possible was Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul-general in Bordeaux, who defied the orders of the Salazar regime, issuing visas to thousands of refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied France, including Jews. Only these visas allowed them to cross Spain to Vilar Formoso in Portugal. Sousa Mendes was punished for defying the regime with demotion and forced retirement. He was unable to find other employment and died in poverty in 1954.
In June 1940, the Vichy regime revoked Maurice de Rothschild’s French citizenship, Rothschild and several family members received Portuguese visas from Aristides de Sousa Mendes, allowing them to flee France for Portugal. He later sailed from Lisbon to Scotland.
Otto von Habsburg, the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary, a staunch opponent of Hitler and National Socialism, was another of the many famous refugees, which made it to the USA via Portugal.
In Budapest, the Portuguese ambassador Sampaio Garrido issued around 1,000 visas to Hungarian Jews including the family of Zsa Zsa Gabor, who became a famous actress in Hollywood.
From the border, we drove to Guarda, which lies at the northern foothills of the Serra da Estrela. It has a lovely cathedral, where you can climb up to the roof.
Next to the cathedral, the restaurant “Nobre Vinhos e Tal” provided an exquisite lunch and the lovely owner introduced us to some nice Portuguese wines. What a first impression of Portugal!
After our lunch, we just managed to drive a short distance until we had found a place to spend the night, next to a reservoir, bird watching included.
Now it was time to make more detailed plans for Portugal. Let’s see what we will discover.