Gilberto Bosques y el consulado de México en Marsella (1940-1942). La burocracia en tiempos de guerra

Abstract

Based on unpublished archive sources, this paper examines in depth the role played by Mexican consul Gilberto Bosques and the Mexican Consulate in Marseille between 1940 and 1942, in relation to the rescue of European (non-Spanish) refugees. The fundamental role played by assistance groups in obtaining visas for refugees is analyzed, as well as the bureaucratic operation of the consulate and the fact that hundreds of visas were not delivered to their recipients, due to the imposition of demands that were impossible to meet. While collective memory sees Bosques as working in a state of exception, the historical sources consulted portray him working in normal conditions of Mexican bureaucracy: a normality that appears detached from the surrounding context of war and persecution.