Today marks the 125th birthday of Gilberto Bosques Saldívar, the diplomat known as the “Mexican Schindler” who is said to have saved 40,000 lives during WWII while serving as Mexico’s Consul General in France.
Born in Chiautla de Tapia, Puebla, Saldívar made a career of looking after the good of the public from young adulthood: serving as a teacher, government newspaper director, and ultimately, a public servant. In 1939, he was sent to France to serve as Mexico’s Consul General.
After fleeing the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1940, Saldívar received support from the Mexican government to establish a consulate in southern France. He rented a castle and holiday camp in Marseilles at which he hid Jews and Spanish Civil War refugees, maintaining that they were protected under international law in what he considered a Mexican territory. He land his team issued Visas and chartered travel for tens of thousands of wishing to escape to Mexico until he was arrested by Nazi forces. After one year of imprisonment, he continued his career in public service for the remainder of his life.
Today we celebrate Saldívar’s remarkable courage and moral conviction with a Doodle that illustrates the peace his actions made possible for the lives of so many.
Click below to learn more about Gilberto and the families whose lives he touched: