Carlos de Almeida Afonseca Sampaio Garrido (5 April 1883 – April 1960) was a Portuguese diplomat credited with saving the lives of approximately 1,000 Jews in Nazi-occupied
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
while serving as Portugal's ambassador in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
between July and December 1944.
Life and work
He served as Minister Plenipotentiary and acting Ambassador of Portugal in Budapest from 1939-44. Along with
Teixeira Branquinho, (Portuguese Chargé d'Affaires in Budapest in 1944) Garrido rented houses and apartments to shelter and protect refugees from deportation and murder. They obtained permission from the Portuguese government to issue safe conduct passes to all persons who had relatives in Portugal, Brazil, or the Portuguese colonies or had a connection to Portugal. Garrido and Branquinho also established an office of the Portuguese Red Cross at the Portuguese legation to care for Jewish refugees. This was largely done in cooperation with the Portuguese Foreign Office and under Prime Minister
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar (, , ; 28 April 1889 – 27 July 1970) was a Portuguese dictator who served as President of the Council of Ministers from 1932 to 1968. Having come to power under the ("National Dictatorship"), he reframed the re ...
’s direct supervision with the provision that these refugees would not try to get Portuguese citizenship.
[Pimentel, pp. 343-50]
On 23 April 1944 and following the German occupation of Hungary, the Portuguese ruler Salazar decided to order his ambassador to return to Lisbon and leave the
chargé d'affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...
, Teixeira Branquinho in his place. This recall was done in response to a request from Britain and the United States who wanted neutral countries to downgrade their diplomatic presence in Hungary.
Five days later, on 28 April 1944, at 5 a.m., the Hungarian political police raided the Ambassador's home arresting his guests. The Ambassador physically resisted the police and was also arrested but managed to have his guests released by invoking the extraterritorial legal rights of diplomatic legations.
Five of the guests were members from the famous Gabor family.
Magda Gabor
Magdolna "Magda" Gabor (June 11, 1915 – June 6, 1997) was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite, and the elder sister of Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor.
Early life
The eldest daughter of a jeweler, Jolie (1896–1997), and a soldier, Vilmos Gá ...
, Hungarian-born actress and socialite, and the elder sister of
Zsa Zsa
Zsa Zsa (also Zsazsa, ) is a given name originated as the baby pet name of Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917–2016), Hungarian-American actress and socialite.
Notable people, characters, and animals with the name include:
People
* Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917–201 ...
and
Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor ( ; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, ''The Aristocats'' (1970), ''The Rescuers'' (1977), ...
, was reported to have been the secretary, fiancée and lover of Sampaio Garrido.
Jolie Gabor, mother of the Gabor sisters, never forgot Magda's influential connections with rescuing her: "For Magda's Portuguese Ambassador I thank God. It was this man who saved my life."
[Adams, Cindy. ''Jolie Gabor'', Mason/Charter Publ. (1975) pgs. 135-49, 173] Gabor's maternal grandmother and uncle Sebastian (Annette Lantos's father) chose to remain in Budapest feeling they "had a good place to hide". However, both were killed during an Allied bombing raid.
In 1945 he was appointed extraordinary envoy and minister plenipotentiary to
Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...
. In 2006 the
International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation
The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF) is a non-governmental organization which researches Holocaust rescuers and advocates for their recognition. The organization developed educational programs for school to promote peace and civil s ...
honored both Sampayo Garrido and his
chargé d'affaires
A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...
Carlos de Liz-Texeira Branquinho.
In 2010 he became the second Portuguese to be recognised as a
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations ( he, חֲסִידֵי אֻמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם, ; "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to sav ...
by
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
;
Aristides de Sousa Mendes
Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amaral e Abranches () GCC, OL (July 19, 1885 – April 3, 1954) was a Portuguese consul during World War II.
As the Portuguese consul-general in the French city of Bordeaux, he defied the orders of Antóni ...
having been recognised in 1966.
Distinctions
National orders
*
Grand Officer of the
Order of Christ (5 October 1934)
*
Commander of the
Order of Christ (23 October 1932)
*
Officer of the
Order of Saint James of the Sword
The Military Order of Saint James of the Sword ( pt, Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada) is a Portuguese order of chivalry. Its full name is the Ancient, Most Noble and Enlightened Military Order of Saint James of the Sword, of the Scientifi ...
(27 October 1934)
*
Grand Officer of the
Order of Liberty
The Order of Liberty, or the Order of Freedom ( pt, Ordem da Liberdade), is a Portuguese honorific civil order that distinguishes relevant services to the cause of democracy and freedom, in the defense of the values of civilization and human di ...
(4 January 1996)
See also
*
List of individuals and groups assisting Jews during the Holocaust
*
List of Righteous among the Nations by country
This is a partial list of some of the most prominent Righteous Among the Nations per country of origin, recognized by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem. These people risked their lives or their libe ...
*
InterContinental Budapest
References
Notes
Sources
*Milgram, Avraham. Portugal, Salazar, and the Jews, translated by Naftali Greenwood. Jerusalem, Yad Vashem, 2011.
*Pimentel, Irene Flunser, Judeus em Portugal Durante a II Guerra Mundial, Lisbon: A Esfera do Livros, 2006;
*
*
External links
Carlos Sampaio Garridoat
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrido, Carlos Sampaio
Catholic Righteous Among the Nations
1883 births
1960 deaths
Ambassadors of Portugal to Hungary
Place of birth missing
Portuguese Righteous Among the Nations
Portuguese Roman Catholics
Grand Officers of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
Commanders of the Order of Christ (Portugal)
Officers of the Order of Saint James of the Sword
Grand Officers of the Order of Liberty