The extraordinary Brazilian that saved lives during the World War II.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
When we talk about heroes, we think about great acts of public resonance, in gestures of great impression, when in fact, many of the heroes in times of war and dictatorship are common people who risk their lives, and make an effort, despite the circumstances, to save other people.
And one of these amazing stories happened during World War II, because of a Brazilian woman, still unknown by many of her fellow countrymen: Aracy Moebius de Carvalho Guimarães Rosa. If her last name sounds familiar, well, in a moment I’ll get there.
Aracy, who came from a German family and was born in Paraná in 1908, got married to a German man, still in Brazil, and had a son, Eduardo. After a few years, she got divorced from him, something that was not well seen back then, and moved to Hamburg, to live here with her aunt and her young son. The year was 1937. Germany was not at war yet, but the Nazi party had already reached power and wasn’t saving means to spread their ideas. Through anti-Semite laws, proclaimed two years before (the so-called Nuremberg Laws), the Jewish day-to-day in Germany was already getting more and more restricted and suffocating.
It’s in this context that Aracy arrived in the new country. Since she spoke several languages, Aracy started working in the Brazilian consulate, in the passport emission section. Her position didn’t guarantee her diplomatic immunity, but gave her the advantage to getting access to the authorization papers for trips to Brazil.
That’s how Aracy got to help Jewish people trying to escape the extermination camps, by running away to Brazil. The research of some of these documents and testimonials from the survivors show that Aracy mixed papers that had to have the Brazil Consul signature, or she omitted the letter J, as in Jewish, so that the religion of the benefited wasn’t known (since Jewish people were denied the Brazilian visa, as in many countries back then, who refused to welcome them).
Another strategy used by Aracy was the contact with German employees, so she could get fake residency documents, which allowed the victims to be attended, even when they weren’t from Hamburg. Besides, she also helped some victims financially, so they could pay their escape trips.
On November 9th, 1938, during the tragic Crystal Night, Aracy even gave shelter to a Jewish couple in her own home.
On the same year, she is introduced to the new deputy consul in Hamburg, João Guimarães Rosa, from whom she would become muse and partner until the writer’s death, in the 1960’s. In Hamburg, they got married and returned to Brazil in 1942, already during the World War, when Germany breaks relations with Brazil.
The discreet heroine
Years after their return to Brazil, and without revealing any of her acts to save Holocaust victims, her story surfaces through the descendants of people saved by her. Not even her son and family knew exactly what Aracy had done in Hamburg, but knew it was something related to Jewish people, because in the following years, the homages to Aracy in the Jewish community in Brazil grew more and more. In 1982, her name was included in the Hall of Righteous Among the Nations, at the Yad Vashem Memorial, in honor of the Holocaust victims, in Israel.
Aracy de Carvalho was born in April 20th, 1908, on Adolf Hitler’s 19th birthday, and passed away in 2011, when she was 102 years old, in São Paulo.
While many Nazi officers carried out the most abject orders – for those were legally in the Nazi government system and, for that, they should be followed – Aracy broke those rules, because the law is not always moral, or correct, or fair. It was a question raised during the Nazi officers trial after the World War II. For her availability to help others, putting her own life at risk, Aracy became known as the “Hamburg Angel”.
Aracy herself didn’t consider her a heroine. Asked as why she risked herself to save so many unknown people, she said “because that’s what was fair”.
I recommend the documentary “Esse Viver Ninguém Me Tira”, which shows, in a very delicate and emotional way, Aracy’s story, her letters to Guimarães Rosa and testimonials from survivors and their families.
Soon, Rede Globo will also broadcast the TV Show “O Anjo de Hamburgo” (The Hamburg Angel), inspired by her story. We had the honor to make part of this project, by introducing our beautiful Hamburg to director Jayme Monjardim during his visit to the city.
Sources:
http://www.morasha.com.br/holocausto/a-historia-e-a-familia-do-anjo-de-hamburgo.html
http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemld=4014490
Documentary “Esse Viver Ninguém Me Tira”