Seeking to escape from advancing German troops, many Jews, from France and elsewhere, made their way to Bordeaux in the hope of obtaining visas to enter Portugal.

With these visas, the fleeing Jews and others, such as soldiers or airmen of the Allies trying to rejoin their units, made their way by train or car through Spain to Portugal, with the great majority eventually reaching the Portuguese border at Vilar Formoso.

[2] The memorial to the work of Sousa Mendes and the role of the people of Portugal in receiving the refugees takes the form of a museum built into two former warehouses at the Vilar Formoso railway station, which is of itself of considerable interest because of its azulejo tile decorations.

[6] The exhibition presents, in a chronological sequence from 1933 to 1940, the most important events that forced thousands of people to flee into the unknown as the result of the persecution of Jews, the Roma, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others.

[6] This section aims to convey the harsh conditions of the trip that the refugees made; the queues outside consulates; the lack of accommodation even if people had money; and shortages of food and transportation.