Moisés Bensabat Amzalak

"[5] In 2007, historian Antonio Louça published a book where he questioned why Amzalak allowed his newspaper to help the Nazi propaganda machine before World War II.

[6][7] In response, Esther Mucznik, one of the leaders of the Jewish Community of Lisbon, defended Amzalak's reputation.

[5][8] The Portuguese ruler António de Oliveira Salazar held Amzalak in high esteem and that allowed Amzalak to play an important role in getting Salazar's permission to transfer from Paris to Lisbon the main HIAS-HICEM (Jewish relief organization) European Office in June 1940.

[10][4] Later in the war, Amzalak, together with Leite Pinto, General Manager of the Beira Alta Railway, which operated the line from Figueira da Foz to the Spanish frontier, organized several trains that brought refugees from Berlin and other European cities.

[11][12] Amzalak was also able to persuade Salazar to instruct consuls in territories under Nazi occupation to validate all passports held by Jews even though these documents were known to be far from "kosher".