The Exasperations and Consolations of Refugee Life After 1940: Fear of Portugal’s Regime and Appreciation of Its People

Portugal, an interim site between danger and safety, evoked feelings of relief and frustration among refugees. Although the police harassed them, the Portuguese people showed remarkable hospitality. The wary refugees stood at a point where Salazar’s grudging minions and generous peasants and townspeople intersected. Mixed messages abounded. The refugees had arrived at an ambivalent respite that left them bewildered. And these refugees stood at another intersection as well. Portugal served as “a playground for every possible intelligence service,” an intense and nervous site where the Gestapo and British military intelligence roamed the streets.¹ Having reached ostensible, but temporary, safety, harried