B’nai B’rith Portugal on Sunday honored Capt. Arthur Carlos de Barros Basto (1887–1961), a decorated military hero, pioneering Jewish leader, and symbol of resilience and identity.
Barros Basto is often called the “Portuguese Dreyfus” because, like Alfred Dreyfus in France, he was a loyal military officer who faced persecution and expulsion from the army due to antisemitism.
In 1937, he was stripped of his army rank after a secret military trial, based on anonymous slander that masked antisemitic motives. His dismissal followed his efforts to help descendants of Jews return to Judaism, which provoked hostility from conservative and religious sectors of Portuguese society.
Sunday’s tribute was formalized through the presentation of a certificate of recognition by Luís Andrade, president of the Portugal-based International Observatory of Human Rights (OIDH), to the family of Barros Basto at the headquarters of B’nai B’rith Portugal in Porto.
“Captain Barros Basto is more than a historical figure,” said Andrade during the ceremony. “He is a timeless example of how personal sacrifice, national and cultural pride, and moral conviction can shape a better, more fraternal world. His legacy inspires us all to act with integrity and vision.”
Barros Basto was recognized for his extraordinary life’s work and enduring legacy as a hero of World War I, when, as a lieutenant in the Portuguese Expeditionary Corps, he was decorated for acts of bravery and survived poison gas attacks in Flanders.
He was also a founder of the modern Jewish Community of Oporto in 1923 and succeeded in rallying global Jewish philanthropy to restore Jewish life to the city after more than four centuries of absence.
“My grandfather didn’t just deal with what’s beautiful in the world,” said Isabel Ferreira Lopes, the vice president of the community in Porto. “He also had to deal with the lowest elements of society, with slanderous anonymous letters, with the police raiding his house and frightening his children. My mother often saw him crouched in his house, with his head on his knees, crying out for divine justice.”
Rescuing descendants of the forcibly converted
In honoring his memory, the OIDH and B’nai B’rith Portugal emphasized Barros Basto’s role as a beacon of perseverance in the face of adversity, and as a guiding light for those dedicated to the pursuit of human dignity and collective progress.
“Barros Basto represents the synthesis of the Jewish and non-Jewish world at the beginning of the 20th century,” said Gabriela Cantergi, president of B’nai B’rith Portugal. “He founded an official community together with Ashkenazim, built a monumental synagogue with the support of the Sephardic Diaspora, and even tried to rescue hundreds of people who lived in remote regions of Portugal to formally become Jewish, traveling great distances on foot, on horseback or by train. So many worlds within one man.”
Israel’s Ambassador to Portugal Oren Rozenblat also spoke in tribute.
“The Mishna in Pirkei Avot [“Ethics of the Fathers”] says in the name of Hillel that ‘In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man’. This represents the great work of Captain Barros Basto. He strived to be a man or as we say, a mentsch, in a place where if he hadn’t realized his remarkable work, there was no one else to do it.”
Other dignitaries included Jewish communal figures, academics and military figures.
“It is important to show this man was the best of the best in the Portuguese Army,” said Adm. António da Silva Ribeiro, former chief of the General Staff of the Portuguese Armed Forces. “Captain Barros Basto was an exemplary officer.”
João Rebelo, a former Portuguese MP who was personally involved in rehabilitating the captain in 2012, said: “Remembering Captain Barros Basto is remembering the courage and dignity of a great Portuguese patriot. He was always a reference for many in the defense of Portuguese Jews. Even today, his legacy continues to inspire thousands of people.
“In an unacceptable stain that shames our country, justice has not yet been fully restored to him, because his just reinstatement in the army is still pending. It will never be too late to do justice to a great man of Portugal.”