My mother was very careful conserving family documents which helped me get a German passport to gain access to the European Union. Among the 1939 documents there is a request for Portuguese visas that were never granted. By 1939 access to the West across Europe from Berlin and Vienna was no longer feasible so the family did the nine month trek to Caracas via Warsaw, Moscow, TransSiberian railroad, Vladivostok, Yokohama, and the Panama Canal to arrive to our new home and country, Venezuela.
I had heard about Aristides de Sousa Mendes but ever knew the details:
As far as I can tell they must have left in January 1939 as the trip supposedly took nine months and they arrived mid September 1939. My info is a combination of family reminiscences and documents left by my father.
They were planning on setting up business in their trade, delicatessen and Viennese pastry. In my father’s trunk I found a sheaf of airmail stationery with deli recipes. My father became the salesman and lorry driver.
