Angel from Hamburg Could the head of the passport department of the Brazilian consulate Arasi de Carvalho think that it will go down in world history under the nickname Angel from Hamburg? In 1938, Brazil issued a secret circular No. 1127 restricting the entry of Jews into the overseas country. But as a lady of the ten, Arasi ignored the document and continued to issue visas to Jews, saving them from the Nazi regime in Germany.
The rules stated that the visa of each Jew must be marked with the letter "J", then customs control will easily determine the nationality of the person. But in order to free the Jews from prison and the Holocaust, the Angel of Hamburg deliberately did not put a letter. Even at gunpoint, Arasi de Carvalho helped help help help helpless Jewish residents who suffered under dictators. Mentally, the woman understood that if she was killed, her son Edu will forever remain an orphan.
The biography of the legendary woman formed the basis of the book by historian Monica Shpoon "Arasi de Carvalho and the salvation of the Jews: the exchange of Nazi Germany for Brazil" (2011). And the book became the basis for the script of the eight-part film "Passport of Freedom", a co-production of the Brazilian studio "Globo" and "Sony Pictures". For the first time in history, a Brazilian series was shot entirely in English for the international market, and dubbed in Portuguese for local screening.
Originally, the mini-series was to be called "Angel of Hamburg", nicknamed the legendary personality. In 2018, however, historians questioned the heroism of the Brazilian consulate staff. They concluded that visas were issued in accordance with the law and that Arasi herself was merely an employee, not a diplomat. It had no authority to issue visas or interfere in immigration policy. In this regard, the title of the series decided to change to "Passport to Freedom", or "Passaporte para Liberdade".
The filming of the project was constantly postponed, either because of bureaucracy or because of the coronavirus pandemic. Because of this, Alicia Braga and Rodriga Santoru, who were supposed to play the main characters, dropped out of the project, and their place was taken by Sophie Charlotte (Iron Island) and Rodriga Lombardi (Roads of India and Save Me, St. George). Sophie God ordered to play the main role, because the actress was born and raised in Hamburg.
Rodrigo Lombardi, whom Russian audiences know well from the series, appears before us in the form of Deputy Consul, and later – writer Joao Guimaraesh Rosa, a nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Together with Sophie Charlotte, they made a beautiful tandem that makes the viewer worry about all their misadventures. By the way, the pen of Rose belongs to the book "Grande Sertao: Veredas", which he dedicated to his wife.
Arasi de Carvalho died at the age of 102 of natural causes, although she suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. As a respect for the historical figure, the creators added to the series archival photos and videos on which she is captured. These images touch to tears, and you mentally thank the woman who saved hundreds of lives from the Nazis. In our current political situation "Passport of freedom" looks especially relevant.
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