Remembering the Courageous Defiance of Major Francis "Frank" Foley
When asked in 1922 what his priorities would be if elected chancellor of Germany, then up-and-coming National Socialist leader, Adolf Hitler, answered candidly:
“Once I’m really in power, my first and foremost task will be the annihilation of the Jews.”
Proclaiming with vitriolic zeal, they’d be “hanged indiscriminately… until all of Germany has been completely cleansed of Jewry”, German Jews, understandably, had no desire to remain when he assumed the chancellorship in 1933…
In desperate hopes of securing safe passage to their ancestral homeland – Eretz Israel – tens of thousands flocked to the British embassy; only to be told on arrival there, “strict limits” had been imposed on the quota of Jews who’d be granted entry.
Although, sadly, the fate of most was thus sealed, countless more would have suffered the same had it not been for the defiant courage of Britain’s Vice-Consul, then-Captain Francis “Frank” Foley.
As a man who, in reality, was using his position as a cover for his long-serving role as an MI6 spymaster, Frank’s intelligence gathering had long confirmed that Hitler’s threats against the Jewish people were far from “empty rhetoric”.
For that reason, Frank was "quite unwilling to toe the line with London…”
Instead, he didn’t just “tear up the rulebook” that dictated whom he could issue lifesaving visas to but, when the “Kristallnacht” pogrom of 1938 was unleashed, he even transformed his place of residence into a safe haven for Jewish families.
From the “Night of Broken Glass” onwards, the number of Jews filing for immigration visas increased dramatically; but still, Frank’s superiors refused to ease the stringent requirements that prevented him from granting them.
Once again, therefore, he not only decided to “bend the rules” by easing them himself but, when he then received an official reprimand for his brave “contravention”, Frank doubled down on his rescue efforts by forging passports for Germany’s beleaguered Jewish citizens.
Despite being fully aware that no level of diplomatic immunity would protect him if the Gestapo had uncovered his clandestine activities, Frank persevered regardless, with no fear or concern for his personal safety.
In so doing, he enabled no fewer than 10,000 Jews to flee Hitler’s Reich; and yet, humble man that he was, Frank never spoke of his selfless deeds during his lifetime…
Incredibly, it was only after his passing, in May 1958, that his heroic exploits were revealed by his beloved wife, Katherine; and, it wasn’t until over four decades later, on this day in 1999, that he was deservedly recognized for having saved so many Jewish lives.
Honored as a posthumous Righteous Gentile by Yad Vashem, the latter paid tribute to Frank – "the British Schindler" – by describing him as “a man of great faith and conviction…”
Indeed, “as a deeply devout Christian, Frank did nothing more than act upon his sense of justice and compassion.”
Addendum 1: -
Taken during the First World War, this photograph shows a youthful Frank after his graduation from the Royal Military College Sandhurst in 1917.
Commissioned as a Second Lieutenant into the Hertfordshire Regiment, Frank soon earned a promotion to temporary captain.
Subsequently transferred to the North Staffordshire Regiment, it was while serving with the latter that he was very nearly killed by a bullet from a German sniper.
Concluding the Great War with a mention in dispatches for his “bravery in the line of fire”, Frank was recruited by MI6 shortly thereafter in 1919.
Then sent to the British Embassy in Berlin, he began his clandestine work by monitoring the political activities of the Bolsheviks, before shifting focus to those of Adolf Hitler and his National Socialists.
By the time that Hitler assumed the chancellorship in 1933, Frank had become a close friend of Germany’s Jewish community.
Indeed, having lived in the very heart of it – in Berlin’s Jewish quarter – for the duration that he was stationed there, he later expressed how he “counted the Jews as family.”
Addendum 2: -
On the eve of the Second World War, Frank was forced to leave Hitler’s Germany for the soon-to-be conquered Kingdom of Norway. Once there, he was promoted to Major and, later, attached to Generalmajor Otto Ruge of the Norwegian Army.
Seen here in his Major’s uniform – mere weeks before the German invasion in April 1940 – Frank wasn’t just praised by the British Government for the “courageous action” he took to prevent sensitive documentation from falling into German hands but, he was also bestowed one of Norway’s highest orders of chivalry for his “gallant services in the field” – the Knight’s Cross of the Order of St. Olav.
Addendum 3: -
In addition to being bestowed the Norwegian Knight’s Cross of the Order of St. Olav (seen on the left) for his “gallant services in the field”, Frank was also awarded the British Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (seen on the right) for his “tremendous contribution in the service of the British Foreign Office”.
There, he not only led the interrogation of Adolf Hitler’s deputy – Rudolf Hess – but, he also helped to recruit and coordinate a network of German double agents for MI5 and MI6.
Known as the “Double Cross System”, the network played a crucial role in counter-espionage and deception, perhaps most notably during “Operation Fortitude” – the Allied plan to deceive the Germans about the location of the Normandy Landings in 1944.
At the war’s end, Frank continued his work with the Foreign Office, where, operating under the cover title of “Assistant Inspector General of the Public Safety Branch of the Control Commission for Germany”, he returned to Berlin to help with the hunt for Nazi war criminals.
Addendum 4: -
From left to right, this magnificent photograph shows Frank’s well-deserved medal collection in its entirety: The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael & St. George; [First World War] British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves; 1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaves; and Norway, Kingdom, Order of St. Olav, Badge.
Addendum 5: -
In addition to transforming his official place of residence into a safe haven for Jewish families, Frank also endeavored to secure the release of Jewish men who were arrested during “Kristallnacht”. Here, some of the more than 30,000 who were seized from their homes during the pogrom can be seen being marched through the crowded streets of Baden-Baden with a Magen David sign that reads:
“GOTT VERGIBT UNS NICHT!”, meaning, “GOD DOES NOT FORGIVE US!”
Addendum 6: -
In the immediate aftermath of the burning, looting, and killing during the “Kristallnacht” pogrom, Hitler and his National Socialists enacted a whole new raft of anti-Semitic policies designed to humiliate and isolate Jews across all four corners of the dictator’s Reich. Here Jewish women can be seen in the city of Hitler’s childhood – Linz, Austria – where they were paraded with giant placards around their necks bearing the words: “Ich bin kein teil der nationalen gemeinschaft!”, meaning, “I am not part of the national community!”
Addendum 7: -
Here, a Jewish shopkeeper can be seen two days after the “Kristallnacht” rampage, on November 12th, 1938, trying to clear the broken glass away from his family’s business.
On the same day, Adolf Hitler’s Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe – Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring – called a conference of more than one hundred high-ranking National Socialist economists and policymakers to discuss “solutions” designed to “address the significant economic damage” caused by his government’s state-sponsored pogrom.
Concluding that “the Jews only had themselves to blame” for “Kristallnacht”, it was decided that the Jewish people had to “pay recompense” to the tune of 1 billion Reichsmarks – a sum that, at the time, equated to just over $400 million US Dollars, or, the equivalent of nearly $8.8 billion Dollars today.
Addendum 8: -
Here, crowds of German Jews can be seen attempting to secure safe passage to Eretz Israel by way of the British Embassy can be seen.
In order to qualify for an entry permit, Jews had to prove that they possessed £1,000GBP in cash assets – the equivalent of nearly £60,000GBP today. Recognizing the near impossibility for most to meet such a stringent requirement, Frank decided that he would “ease” it himself by accepting “written guarantees” that the monies would be paid upon arrival in Israel.
Addendum 9: -
Here, a visibly joyful Jewish family helped by Frank can be seen as they prepare to embark upon the voyage that took them from Hitler’s Germany to the land of their ancestral homeland – Eretz Israel.
Addendum 10: -
Created by the award-winning British sculptor, Jonathan Sells, this emotive memorial depicts Frank with his beloved wife, Katherine, stamping the immigration visa of a young and orphaned German Jewish girl. Unveiled in 2008, the memorial can be found in the town of Frank’s birth – Highbridge, in Somerset, England.
Addendum 11: -
In 2004, an honorific plaque was inaugurated in Frank’s blessed memory at the British Embassy in Berlin. Unveiled by Britain’s then-ambassador to Germany, Sir Peter Torry, (seen here), the inauguration ceremony was attended not just by several of the German Jews he saved, but also, by their descendants and their families.
Addendum 12: -
Unveiled in blessed memory of Frank on October 1st, 2018, this bronze statue depicts him sitting in his favorite place – Mary Stevens Park – in his adopted town of Stourbridge, England.
Addendum 13: -
Frank’s blessed memorial in Yad Vashem’s Garden of the Righteous atop the Mount of Remembrance, Jerusalem, Eretz Israel.
