Arthur Barros Basto
The late Captain Arthur Barros Basto was a Jewish war hero who was wrongly and unjustly drummed out of the Portuguese military nearly seven decades ago.
Captian Bastro was also one of the Bnei Anousim, a descendant of Jews whose ancestors had been forced to convert to Catholicism during the time of the Spanish Inquisition and who are now emerging from centuries of hiding to rejoin the Jewish people.
Captail Bastro was a decorated soldier who commanded a Portuguese infantry company in World War I, fought in the trenches of Flanders, and took part in the allied offensive to liberate Belgium.
In 1937, the Portuguese military summarily expelled him from its ranks, unjustly humiliating him all because he launched a public campaign to reawaken Portugal's Bnei Anousim to return to their Jewish roots.
This year marks five decades since Capt. Barros Basto passed away in 1961, a broken man.
We believe it is time to right this historical injustice and remove the stain on this noble man's name, which is also a stain on Portugal itself.
The late Captain Arthur Barros Basto was a Jewish war hero who was wrongly and unjustly drummed out of the Portuguese military nearly seven decades ago.
Captian Bastro was also one of the Bnei Anousim, a descendant of Jews whose ancestors had been forced to convert to Catholicism during the time of the Spanish Inquisition and who are now emerging from centuries of hiding to rejoin the Jewish people.
Captail Bastro was a decorated soldier who commanded a Portuguese infantry company in World War I, fought in the trenches of Flanders, and took part in the allied offensive to liberate Belgium.
In 1937, the Portuguese military summarily expelled him from its ranks, unjustly humiliating him all because he launched a public campaign to reawaken Portugal's Bnei Anousim to return to their Jewish roots.
This year marks five decades since Capt. Barros Basto passed away in 1961, a broken man.
We believe it is time to right this historical injustice and remove the stain on this noble man's name, which is also a stain on Portugal itself.
