Portugal honors diplomat who saved thousands from Nazis

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal has paid official homage to a Portuguese diplomat who during World War II helped save thousands of people from Nazi persecution. Officials placed a tomb with the name of Aristides de Sousa Mendes in the country’s National Pantheon. Leading Portuguese politicians and public figures attended Tuesday’s formal televised ceremony as the tomb was placed alongside other celebrated figures from Portuguese history at the landmark Lisbon building. The ceremony marked the completion of Sousa Mendes’ 80-year journey from ostracized Portuguese civil servant to honored international personage. Sousa Mendes defied his superiors when as consul in France in 1940 he handed out visas to many people fleeing the Nazis.