The racial persecution and condemnation of Jews in Europe during the 1930s occurred in an anti-liberal atmosphere, disillusioned with democracy and yearning for strong leadership – racial segregation was a social ideal and violence a legitimate right; war and the unbridled use of force constituted proof of human superiority; and the elimination of the other, especially the Jews during the Second World War, a pseudo-divine crusade. Salazar’s Portugal, which saw everything from the privileged position of a neutral country far from the battles that were sealing the fate of Europe and the world, was not immune to the moral and ethical challenge raised by the events in Europe, and its relationship with the persecuted Jews was ambivalent.
Based on a wide range of documentation, this pioneering historical research rigorously examines the main protagonists in this drama: Salazar, the dictator of Portugal; his police (PVDE); the Portuguese political and social elite; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and their agents outside the country; the leaders of the Jewish community of Lisbon; representatives of international Jewish organizations that acted in Lisbon; and the refugees.
