Posted on 11/24/2004 2:57:41 PM PST by knighthawk
A British spy credited with using his cover as a passport officer to save thousands of Jews from Nazi Germany has been honoured as "a true British hero".
Frank Foley was posted to Berlin in the early 1920s by the Secret Intelligence Service, the predecessor of MI6.
After Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, Foley used his official job as the embassy's passport control officer to issue visas to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution -- often bending rules under which London was trying to limit Jewish migration to British-ruled Palestine.
"Without diplomatic immunity, at considerable personal risk to himself, this unassuming man chose to follow his conscience," British Ambassador Sir Peter Torry said before unveiling a plaque at the Berlin embassy to Foley, whose 120th birthday would have been on Wednesday.
"He went to the concentration camps to secure the release of Jewish prisoners; he issued thousands and thousands of visas to enable Jews to flee persecution in Germany, and he sheltered Jews at great risk to himself and his family in his own home," Sir Peter said.
Six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.
Peter Weiss recalled that his mother "heard a rumour that someone was giving out visas in Berlin" and went to Foley's office in 1939. Foley let her stay at his apartment for three days before presenting her with documents that allowed her to flee to Belgium.
"My mother was virtually the only survivor of a very large family," Weiss said. "All the children from that time who survived are his legacy."
Foley died in 1973. Israel's national Holocaust memorial, Yad Vashem, in 1999 awarded him the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
"Today, it is right that we should honour him at the British Embassy, not far from where he did his work in the 1930s," Sir Peter said. "He was indeed a very humane and honourable man, a true British hero."
Ping
ping
But why did he remain forgotten until 1999? Was he sent home in disgrace and ostracized by the Foreign Office? Was he naturally the reclusive type? My personal guess is that he was childless and perhaps his personal papers were only released in the late nineties and some scholar decided to learn his story.
Ping
"A fascinating book on one of WWII's unsung heros., May 18, 2000
Reviewer: A reader from Lincoln, England
Despite his secretive background as a member of MI6, it is astounding that Foley's story has not been told long before now, not least by the Israelis and many of the Jews or their descendants who owe him their lives. Fascinating though that part of his life is, it is but one episode in several high profile roles which he played in the Second World War. Following his departure from Germany on the outbreak of war, he moved to Norway, where he soon became a key figure in the plot to save the King and defend the country from German invasion. Although the King eventually moved to Britain and the country was over-run, Foley did his utmost to persuade the British government to intervene and was awarded one of Norway's highest medals in recognition of his efforts. Back in Britain, he continued to run wartime agents in Norway. He became one of the few to debrief Hitler's Deputy, Rudolf Hess, after his flight to Britain. Subsequently he became intimately involved in Operation Doublecross - a scheme to turn agents around the world to work for Britain against the Nazis. As part of this massive disinformation scheme, he was involved in the famous "man who never was" - planting incorrect information on Allied landings on a body which was washed up on shore in Europe.
Through it all, Foley shines through as a clever, decent man of the utmost compassion, who was respected by all who worked with him. A wholly absorbing book on an essentially self-effacing British hero. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title."
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That answers my question. What an all-round mensch! I'm going to have to order that book. Makes sense now, being that his spying activities would have kept his whole story hush-hush. I read "The Man Who Never Was" back in middle school but I know that quite a few details have only recently come to light.
http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/12/30/ukhonours.winton/
This is another guy that stayed quiet about all he did for decades. Often that is the way as they would consider it a normal thing to do and would not think about tellling anyone about it.
A true Hero
I would think that that job would qualify one for a diplomatic passport.
Without diplomatic immunity
This man was a blessing to the lives he touched. We can truly give thanks for samaritans like these.
Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.
"Six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust."
Six million Jews were MURDERED during the Holocaust.
Just because they were Jewish.
Never Again.
Bump. Happy Thanksgiving Salem.
REPORTING FROM ISRAEL
WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
Really interesting account of a man few know of, and his good deeds. Nice thread to read on Thanksgiving Eve. Restores one's faith that there are potential heroic qualities in all of us, when it is necessary to rise to an occasion. And saving so many Jews from a certain tragic fate was definitely one of those occasions.
bttt
I was musing on this while watching The World at War on the History Channel the other night.
TWAW was a landmark in UK broadcasting history. Produced for ITV by Jeremy Issacs, scripted by Neil Ascherson (both libs, but talented ones) and narrated by Olivier it has long been considered as the definitive TV history of WW2. This is partly because of when it was made (early 70s) meant that many key figures were still alive to be interviewed.
For example the episode I was watching recently covered the area bombing campaign and included interviews with Harris, Speer, LeMay and Galland, central protagonists of what probably remains the greatest aerial conflict in history (incidently, Speer didn't seem to have much time for revisionist theories that area bombing was ineffective at disrupting the Nazi war effort).
The production values were stunning too - the opening and closing credits chilled me to the bone when I watched the original broadcasts as a child and the series deeply affected my world view.
My point is that this "definitive" history contained one glaring omission - the Enigma Code tale, Alan Turing, Bletchley Park and all that - without which Britain would probably have been starved into surrender in 1943, not to mention the invention of the electronic computer.
That is because it was still a secret then. In fact, around 3,000 people worked at Bletchley Park at one time or another in WW2 and not one of them - and this is what really baked my noodle - including Neil Ascherson's own sister breathed a word about it, until the 80's when the whole extraordinary story filtered into the public domain.
Just compare that discipline to people's behaviour now....we're at war for goodness sake!
Blimey this is the nearest thing to a vanity I have ever posted on FR.
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