The Resistance Muesuem Tour

 

This Summer I was in Lisbon with some friends, had a lovely time, a strike by bus drivers ensured we got to see some parts of the city not on the tourguide maps while walking in the sunshine[1]. One day, we were walking into the Marina area after riding on the Metro's Green Line, we found a museum commemorating the downfall of Portugal's brutal dictatorial regime. Its called the Museum of Aljube Resistance and Freedom, and its directly behind Lisbon Cathedral, the Cathedral was closed for repairs but you see into the Cathedral from the windows of the Museum.  

This is a collage, the face of one of Amável Vitorino, one of Estado Novo's victims is created from the prisoner ID photographs of many other victims.

Its a small building with four floors, it makes excellent use of its space. The photos were taken by me, so apologies for the blurriness. From 1926 to 1974 Portugal and its colonial possessions (Goa, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde etc.) were ruled by a dictatorial regime established by Antonio Salazar. The period before 1926 was also marked with military seizures of power and instability. In 1933 Salazar cemented his grip on power by establishing the Estado Novo (New State) which just barely outlived him before crashing down when the military revolted in what is known as the Carnation Revolution.

The Museum outlines the chronology of this brutal state and its many acts of violence and repression against its own populations. One floor is dedicated to the Portuguese Colonial wars as Salazar attempted to keep his colonies under direct control.

The first rooms have information in Portugeuse only, but everything else has English translations available and audio guides are also available for other languages. They also explain just how Portugal could remain under such a brutal regime for so long, they give evidence of Salazar's collaboration with the Allied Powers during WWII despite his Fascistic leanings, and how during the Cold War his regime's fanatical opposition to Communism gained him important allies in the United States. 

One thing I did notice though, is a sort of reticience to acknowledge the political characters of the resistance to Estado Novo, often the groups are named but there was no attempt to explain them beyond their names. I got a sense that the Musuem was trying to depoliticise the revolt against dictatorship. For example the hi-jacking of the passenger ship Santa Maria has a segment of the wall dedicated to it as it was a very important action of the resistance that brought international attention to the often overlooked situation in Portugal. And DRIL (Iberian Revolutionary Liberation Directory) is named but there's no information given beyond the name. Which is a little odd since the website of the Museum does give abit more information.

The Santa Maria action carried out by DRIL

The one exception I can recall was a wall featuring newspapers published within the Portuguese prison system, the groups publishing the papers emboldened their masts with symbols representing the groups and some had taglines about specific political oreintations.

Possibly, I'm being too cynical, the politics of the resistance was confusing and secterian, I remember reading in Impossible Revolution how the Moscow backed Communist Party was attacked more often in 74 by Maoists then the embittered supporters of Estado Novo. Giving this subject the space to make sense of it would be a tricky proposition for a small building. The gift shop was also full of books written by former prisoners and participants of the Carnation Revolution so perhaps it is there that the subject is given more attention.

I'll finish with a handful of photos that didn't turn out too bad.

This is a diagram of methods of torture employed by the political police PIDE

 

 

 

 

Police attack a demonstration of women and children who were supporting their striking husbands/fathers

 

A photograph of Queen Elizabeth II meeting Antonio Salazar in 1957.

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1: If like me you have some mobility issues I'd strongly recommend taking a stick with you, Lisbon is built on several hills and most of the streets are cobbled.