refugees. Portuguese researcher Jose Freire Antunes in his book Jews in Portugal, Testimony of Fifty Men and Women credited Amzalak for the expansion of the refugee relief in Lisbon and for the transfer of JDC offices to Lisbon. It was due to the intervention of Augusto Isaac de Esaguy and Amzalak that many of the refugees with visas issued by Aristides de Sousa Mendes were allowed to continue on their way to Portugal. The Portuguese ruler António de Oliveira Salazar held Amzalak in high esteem and that allowed Amzalak to play an important role in getting Salazar's permission to transfer from Paris to Lisbon the main HIAS-HICEM (Jewish relief organization) European Office in June 1940. Latter in the war, Amzalak, together with Leite Pinto, General Manager of the Beira Alta Railway, which operated the line from Figueira da Foz to the Spanish frontier, organized several trains that brought refugees from Berlin and other European cities. Amzalak was also able to persuade Salazar to instruct consuls in territories under Nazi occupation to validate all passports held by Jews even though these documents were known to be far from "kosher". Sources "The Jew with a Nazi Medal." OLIVEIRA, Jaime da Costa. «Fotobiografia de Francisco de Paula Leite Pinto». No centenário do nascimento de Francisco de Paula Leite Pinto, Memória 2, Lisboa, Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, 2003 Testimonial from Professor Baltasar Rebelo de Sousa Pinto, Jaime Nogueira, «Salazar visto pelos seus próximos», Testimonial from Francisco de Paula Leite Pinto, , 1993 Bertrand Editora S.A References External links Jewish community of Lisbon Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive - Portugal Europe's Crossroads Jewish Portuguese writers 20th-century Portuguese economists People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust 1892 births 1978 deaths Academic staff of the Technical University of Lisbon