Interactive map of the Viseu district shows names, places and events that took place before and after the 25th of April

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Through this map, you can, for example, find out what was the Revolta dos Arcos, in Moimenta da Beira, the protest of the women of Nelas in World War II or the strike of the saleswomen at Mercado 2 de Maio, in 1970

They were imprisoned in the prisons of fascism. They passed through Caxias, Peniche, Aljube. Many knew what exile was. They were arrested for “investigations” or for being “undesirable elements”. They saw their rights taken away. They learned about torture. There are many records that are part of the Prisoner Registry ((PVDE/ PIDE) that can be consulted at Torre do Tombo, in Lisbon. Of the more than 30 thousand personal records, many are of people from the district of Viseu. These are the names which are now gathered in an interactive online map and which can be consulted from April 25th A map – https://abrilemviseu.pt/ – where, one by one, are the names of those who were arrested, persecuted, tortured,. killed for his ideals of freedom and so that no one is left behind. The map, developed by two archaeologists, a journalist and a Higher Education professor, also contains the places and events that portray the years of dictatorship, the moments of preparation of the revolution, Freedom Day and the events that led up to the Constituent Assembly that was mandated to prepare a new Constitution of the Portuguese Republic Through this map, you can, for example, find out what the Arcos Revolt was, in. Moimenta da Beira, the protest of the women of Nelas in World War II or the strike of the saleswomen at the Mercado 2 de Maio, in 1970. The interactive map, which results from research in various organizations and bibliography and the technological development carried out in recent months, is a project that launches on April 25th, but which, according to the promoters, “is in constant development because there are many themes, events, people who make history”. “As you research someone or an event, many other stories emerge and these are the stories that should continue to be disseminated about the district”, highlights the collective. Here are some of the names of people who passed through prisons under the former regime and who are part of this project

Basilio Lopes Pereira
Born in Marmeleira, Mortágua, on December 25, 1893. Basílio Lopes Pereira was a democrat and republican, an anti-fascist fighter and one of the founders of the newspaper Sol Nascente. He was arrested several times. His action began when he was still a law student. In the 1930s, he was accused of being a “liaison agent between the revolutionary elements of Coimbra and Viseu”. He participated in the revolutionary movement of April 1931, but after the revolt failed, he escaped arrest and joined the “Buddhas” group in Spain. He returned clandestinely to Portugal and became involved in the preparation of the revolutionary movement of August 1931. Arrested again in 1932, in Lisbon, he was released seven days later. On March 11, 1933, he was arrested again, “on charges of being involved in revolutionary manipulations”. He became one of the most representative elements of the “Group of Buddhas” in the interior of the country and one of those responsible for the Anti-Fascist Anticlerical Action (the 3 AAA) which, during the Spanish Civil War, sought to help republican refugees. He ended up arrested on September 26, 1938 and sent to Aljube Prison. He was also imprisoned in Caxias, before going to the Tarrafal Concentration Camp, from where he was released on June 10, 1942. He was detained again in 1949, “to investigate crimes against State security”.

Alzira Augusta de Lourdes Pinto Vieira
Avowed republican and feminist, Alzira Augusta de Lourdes Pinto Vieira was born in Vilar de Besteiros, Tondela, on June 8, 1879. It was in the first decades of the 20th century, already as a teacher, that she joined feminist organizations in the fight to defend social rights and women politicians. She collaborated with the Republican League of Portuguese Women, was an activist in the Feminist Propaganda Association and joined the Crusade of Portuguese Women, serving as Vice-President of the Tondela Subcommittee. In the 1930s, she published texts and poetry in the magazine Portugal Feminino. She died in Boaldeia, Viseu, on January 1, 1970.

Antonio Correia
Born in S. Pedro de France, Viseu, in 1895. Because of a letter, during World War II, sent to the English ambassador in Portugal announcing the support of the Viseu republicans for the Allied cause and the censorship of Salazar’s position was arrested. Between 1942 and 1945, he visited the various fascist prisons such as Peniche, Caxias, Tarrafal and Aljube, a place he called “worse than hell”. The “aviator captain”, as he became known, a few days after being restored to freedom was one of the speakers at a large rally held at Teatro Avenida, in Viseu. For the first time after the advent of Salazarist fascism, it was possible for Viseu’s democratic opposition to demonstrate itself in a public event. As he had been dismissed from the positions he held in military life and stripped of his patents, he worked in commerce in Lisbon and Viseu as an employee. Following the 25th of April, he was returned, posthumously, to the post and Arms from which he had been dismissed.

Julio da Rocha Calisto
Born in Tojal, parish of Vila da Igreja, Sátão, Viseu. Graduated in Law from the University of Coimbra, he practiced law in Ílhavo, Aveiro. He was detained by PIDE, at the beginning of December 1962, for investigations on suspicion of “activities against State security”. He spent a month and a half in Caxias and Aljube prisons, having been released in January 1963. From the file filed at Torre do Tombo, it appears that PIDE did not get anything from Júlio Calisto about his colleagues and the struggles that involved them. . He was part of the organizing committee of the 1st Republican Congress, held in Aveiro, in 1957. He was a candidate, for Aveiro, on the Opposition list, that same year.

José Moreira de Campos
Born on September 24, 1898, in Tondelinha, Viseu. He was part of the National Anti-Fascist Unity Movement, created at the end of 1943. This was the first major unitary anti-fascist movement of the 1940s, in which the Portuguese Republican Party, the extinct Socialist Party (SPIO), the recently created Socialist Union, the Portuguese Communist Party, Freemasonry, some anarcho-syndicalists, Catholics, monarchists and independents. Arrested by PIDE on January 7, 1952 for involvement in the alleged attempt on Rua da Assunção, commander Moreira de Campos was sent to the Aljube prison, and was later transferred to the Trafaria Prison.

Conceição Matos
Born in 1936 in São Pedro do Sul. Conceição Matos began his political participation early on, still in MUD-Juvenil. He joined the Communist Party in the 1950s. Together with Domingos Abrantes, whom he married in Peniche prison in 1969, he spent years in hiding. Conceição Matos was arrested (with Domingos Abrantes) on April 21, 1965 and was imprisoned for a year and a half. She was the victim of some of the most cruel and humiliating torture methods practiced by PIDE. She was beaten and, according to testimony, stripped of her clothes, forced to urinate and defecate in an interrogation room and to clean up the dirt with what she was wearing. “Arrested by the Delegation on 21-4-1965 for activities against State Security, having been taken to the Caxias Prison Depot”, this is the first paragraph of her PIDE file. Conceição Matos was arrested again in 1968. She returned to Caxias and stayed there, in total isolation, for two months and a few days.

Diamantino Henriques
Known as “the doctor of the poor”, Diamantino de Oliveira Henriques was born on December 4, 1930 and died on March 6, 1993. He was prevented by PIDE from practicing his profession because of his political positions. He spent a few months in Aljube prison and in Forte de Caxias. In 1968 he was arrested again for opposing the colonial war and accused of subversive activities while doing military service in Mozambique. He was then tried by the Military Court in Lisbon and returned to Nelas, where his family was. He was prevented from working in public health services. He became known as “the doctor of the poor” for helping all those who could not pay for his services as a doctor. After April 25th, he helped disseminate the values ​​of the April Revolution and support for the military liberators. He joined the Viseu Hospital as a cardiologist where he worked until he died at the age of 62. Previously, he had practiced pediatrics.

Maria Teresa Almeida Cruz
Born in Mangualde on April 23, 1940. He was always in connection with the clandestine PCP organization before April 25, taking a prominent role in student struggles at the University of Coimbra. The fight against injustice was always present in her life and started very early, after completing her degree and being placed at Escola Dom António da Costa, in Almada. She took part in meetings with other teachers to share issues that afflicted Portuguese society during the dictatorship, meetings held in hiding. Upon returning to Mangualde, there was no shortage of political and social reflection meetings. Her convictions got her into trouble. She suffered physical attacks at a polling station and escaped a bomb attack, all for the love of the people and workers. After the 25th of April, she was always part of the municipal lists promoted by the PCP, being elected to the Municipal Assembly of Mangualde, a municipality that awarded her the City’s Gold Medal. Now, in these 50th anniversary celebrations, she will be one of the protagonists to receive the keys to the City.