What did the Spanish diplomat, Eduardo Propper de Callejon have in common with Raoul Wallenberg, Frank Foley and Aristades De Sousa Mendes? Like the others, Propper de Callejon risked his life and career to issue visas to Jews to escape the Nazis.
As German troops marched into France in the summer of 1940, Propper de Callejon, then first secretary in the Spanish Embassy in Paris, stamped and signed passports for four days nearly nonstop to allow refugees to escape to Spain, and from there to the relative safety of Portugal.Propper de Callejon, a Franco loyalist, defied Spanish Foreign Ministry instructions not to issue such visas. In 1941, he was demoted, and never promoted to be an ambassador. He retired in 1965 and died in 1972. The exact number of visas Propper de Callejon issued remains unknown, but Yad Vashem Director Avner Shalev said it was believed to be at least 1,500, both Jewish and non-Jewish. ”He was signing papers with both his hands. He signed so many that his hands hurt so much, my mother had to bandage them at the end of the day,” said Elena Bonham Carter, his daughter. ”It was extraordinary. He said those were the most important days of his life.”
Like De Sousa Mendes he paid for his heroism with his career.
Wallenberg came from one of the wealthiest families in Sweden. (And it’s still quite wealthy.) Propper de Callejon, though, also has a famous relative, his granddaughter.
Israel’s Holocaust memorial on Wednesday posthumously recognized a prominent Spanish diplomat, who was actress Helena Bonham Carter’s grandfather, for his role in saving hundreds of Jews during World War II.
(Yes, her name differs from that of her mother by one letter.)Not entirely related, you might remember that two other Harry Potter cast members have contributed to a Holocaust memorial event.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
