SAN DIEGO — The Mexican film Visa al Paraiso, (Visa to Paradise) is the story, told in a documentary format of the Mexican diplomat, Gilberto Bosques, who was assigned by his government, (led at the time by President Lázaro Cárdenas in the late 1930’s) to be Consul General in Paris, and later in Marseilles. During his assignment there, he was responsible for issuing up to 45,000 exit visas to Jews and Spanish Republican exiles for legal residence in Mexico. He has been called “The Mexican Schindler”.
If this is a subject which intrigues you, you will find three elements within this documentary which I found of extreme interest. First, is that all the people being interviewed are the ones who were young boys and girls during these difficult times, but retained with astounding precision many details of those very turbulent times. Their dramatic stories on having to escape from the Fascists and the Nazis are a vivid testimony to the violent changes occurring in the geographic areas between Spain and France.
Another valuable contribution to this documentary are the vast number of still photos and film footage, some shot by Bosques himself, of images never seen before. If you are squeamish about seeing World War II films and photos of atrocities, do not worry here; all that is seen on the screen is true and real, but without the carnage.
What is even more interesting, is the third element: Gilberto Bosques lived a long life, 1892-1995), almost to 103, and survived to continue his distinguished diplomatic career representing Mexico in various other parts of the globe after World War II. This documentary gives generous time to Bosques’ interview, and his vivid accounting of many fascinating details are handed to us “first hand”.
All the interviews, of Bosques and many others, are in Spanish, with English subtitles.
During the late 1930’s, many Jews sought refuge in Spain, by escaping from Poland, Austria and Germany, to a country that at first seemed stable and safe. But with the emergence of Fascism and what is called “Francoism,” Spain became unfriendly territory, and hundreds of thousands of Spanish Republicans (who were fighting the Franco forces in the Civil War), together with Jews, old and young, had to escape again, this time into France by walking hundreds of kilometers, with only the personal belongings they could carry.
Upon reaching France, they were quickly put into internment camps, awaiting the volatile political situation of the invading German troops, the conquest of France, and the Nazi-controlled French government in Vichy, led by General Petain. Many were already being sent to concentration camps in Poland and Germany.
President Cárdenas (best remembered by his nationalization of the Mexican petroleum industry in 1938), was no friend of Fascism, and saw this situation as a good opportunity to bring into Mexico an influx of skilled teachers, artists, scientists, engineers, doctors, and many other creative minds. He reassigned Bosques to the consular office in Marseilles, where he started issuing wholesale numbers of entry visas to Mexico to as many people as he could, many times while risking his personal life, because by then, the Nazis were fully entrenched into all military and police operations in France. A serious obstacle he encountered is that Mexican law allowed entry to “political refugees,” which worked nicely for the fleeing Spanish Republicans, but not the Jews.
In spite of this, Bosques met hurdles on a daily basis, had a bundle of cash in his safe, which he gave unconditionally to Jews who needed to buy passage on departing ships, arranged for shipping companies to stop in Marseilles to pick up passengers to safe ports and eventually to Veracruz, and at times, personally escorted Jews and their families, past Nazi guards, directly onto the ships. He was obsessively motivated by instructions from Cárdenas, and by his own moral codes.
In 1943, Bosques, his family and 40 Mexican staff members were arrested by the Gestapo and held in detention in Germany for a year. All of them were eventually were released and returned to Mexico.
The highly literate and eloquent accounts of the many survivors in the film, directed by Lillian Liberman and released in 2010, are vivid and focused. All of them expressed their gratitude to Mexico for inviting them to “Paradise”, where they lived and thrived. There were a few comments made by the interviewees about how the United States was not as welcoming to Jewish refugees during those days, and that in comparison, Mexico embraced them with open arms.
And you can see, the continuing effects of all of this is evident in the large Jewish community of Mexico today, which is dynamic, focused, and with a strong awareness of its recent roots in Mexico and its relation to modern Israel.
If you are a fan of A) Historic documentaries, B) Judaism and the Jewish migrations of the Twentieth Century, or C) A little known aspect of World War II, this film is for you. It will be shown during the San Diego Jewish Film Festival at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 17, at the Clairemont Reading 14 Theatres, 4665 Clairemont Drive, San Diego.
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Amos is a freelance writer based in San Diego