Between March 17th and 19th, 2025, the first scenes of the VR4Empathy Project were filmed in Portugal. The project brings history to life through immersive storytelling, focusing on the courageous actions of Portuguese diplomats who defied authoritarian orders to save Jewish refugees during World War II.
Script Development with Educational Roots
The storytelling foundation of the VR4Empathy Project was laid between November 2024 and January 2025, when teachers from various subject groups at the Sever do Vouga School Group collaborated to develop the scripts. The narratives focused on the theme of refugees in transit through Portugal during the Second World War and the actions of Portuguese diplomats who, contrary to orders from the Portuguese government or by extending the strict selection criteria imposed for granting transit visas, acted to save lives.
Lisbon Filming: Diplomatic Archives and Defiance
The first film focuses on the courageous actions of Portuguese diplomats, especially Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who, despite orders from the Salazar government, granted visas to Jewish refugees. These lifesaving decisions were captured during filming at the Library and Archive of the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lisbon, where original documentation on applications for transit visas are preserved.
The filming featured Dr. Margarida Lages, director of the library and archive, alongside three students from schools in Odivelas and Espinho, highlighting the intergenerational connection to this history.
At the Border: Vilar Formoso and the Memory of Escape
The main entry point for refugees into Portugal was the Vilar Formoso border crossing, and so the second film was based on the Vilar Formoso Border of Peace Museum, created by Almeida Town Council as a memorial to the refugees and Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux. In June 1940, he did not follow the orders of the Salazar and issued thousands of visas to Jewish refugees, allowing many of those fleeing Nazism to save themselves.
This segment includes the testimony of Cookie Fischer, whose mother, Ada van den Bergh Fischer, received one of the thousands of emergency visas issued by Sousa Mendes in Bayonne in June 1940 – an act that saved her life.
Final Stop: A Hometown Tribute
To deepen the tribute, filming also took place in Cabanas de Viriato, the birthplace of Aristides de Sousa Mendes. The team documented memorials, including a powerful mural by João Luís Figueiredo and a tribute at the Aristides de Sousa Mendes School. This visit involved teacher Josefa Reis and four 9th-grade students, underscoring the lasting impact of Sousa Mendes’ actions on younger generations.
The final location was the Aristides de Sousa Mendes Museum at Casa do Passal, his former home and now a museum dedicated to his legacy.
