A Refugee Crisis
By November 1939, the two-months-old Second World War had caused mass displacement of refugees in Europe, including thousands of Jews fleeing the Nazis. As war spread across the continent, refugees sought haven in neutral states like Switzerland and Portugal.
People also wanted to travel via Portugal to overseas safe havens like England or America.
“Lisbon was the bottleneck of Europe, the last open gate of a concentration camp extending over the greater part of the Continent's surface.”
~ Arthur Koestler, journalist
“Circular 14,” Wikimedia Commons, 1939
Europe’s refugee problem immediately worsened. Then in early June 1940, the Nazis invaded Paris, forcing panicked citizens and the government to flee southwest to Bordeaux. Bordeaux’s population quickly surged from 250,000 to over 1 million and living conditions became intolerable.
“Paris 1940 - Deutsche Besatzung - German Occupation - l´Occupation allemande, film: color/bw,” FILMSCHATZARCHIV, YouTube, 1940
Header image: “Refugees in front of the Bordeaux Town Hall in 1940,” Sud Ouest, 1940
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However, Portuguese dictator Salazar was disturbed by the sudden mass immigration through his borders. “Some thought the small country could not absorb huge numbers of immigrants, seeing themselves as a land of emigration, not immigration…Most importantly, Salazar and his cronies feared all aliens, Jewish and non-Jewish, as possible liberals and leftists who might destabilize their regime.” (Marion Kaplan)
Salazar also was concerned continuing to allow refugees into Portugal would anger Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. On November 11, 1939, he issued Circular 14, which ordered Portuguese officials to deny entry visas for all refugees, specifically mentioning Jews, stateless individuals, and people of unclear nationality.
“Salazar: the dictator who refused to die,” MisesInstitute, 1933
“Following the outbreak of war and the French Government's move to Bordeaux, many people leave Paris, including those seen here leaving for England by train from the Gare du Nord,” agefotostock, 1940
“Border crossing of Jewish refugees into Switzerland,” Alamy, 1939