Soccer Dad: The quietest hero

May 8, 2007

The quietest hero

Raoul Wallenberg was a well known rescuer of Jews from the Holocaust. He came from one of Sweden's most prominent and richest families. The Swedish diplomat likely saved more than 100,000 Jews by issuing protective visas to Hungarian Jews. In 1945 Wallenberg was arrested by the Russians and was never heard from again. Wallenberg was recognized by Yad Vashem in 1966 as one of the Righteous among the Nations for his efforts to save Jews.

Oskar Schindler was a German industrialist. He saved Jews by claiming he required the Jews working for him were essential to Germany's war effort. His heroism was immortalized in a book and later a movie called Schindler's list. He was honored by Yad Vashem in 1967. His wife was later recognized in 1993.

Frank Foley was the head of the British Passport Control office in Berlin. When Hitler rose to power in 1933, Foley was overwhelmed by the number of Jews applying for visas to leave Germany. Hitler had been quite explicit about his plans and he started implementing discriminatory laws from the start. As the persecution started, Foley's revulsion at what was going on prompted him to act. (Foley was a one time Catholic seminarian whose religious convictions would not countenance the evils of Nazism.

Foley broke rules for issuing visas and, when necessary, hid Jews in his house to protect them. Foley is estimated to have saved 10,000 Jews. He was finally recognized by Yad Vashem in 1999.

Given that he was clearly in a class with Schindler and Wallenberg the obvious question is why it took so long for Foley to be recognized.

Yad Vashem only honors those non-Jews whose efforts were attested to by those they saved. Foley's efforts were largely those of a bureaucrat bending and breaking the rules. If Foley issued a visa in violation of establshed rules, the person receiving the visa would not necesssarily understand that anything out of the ordinary was done on his behalf.

Then there's the matter of Foley's personality. He had a very quite demeanor and didn't draw much attention to himself. He did his rescue work subtly and without fanfare. (In stark contrast to Schindler.)

Of course being nondescript probably served Foley well, because he wasn't just a bureaucrat for Britain's foreign office, he was also a spy for MI-6. As a spy he wouldn't have had diplomatic immunity had his efforts been uncovered. He was doing his work without a safety net. (Like Schindler and Wallenberg, Foley had entered concentration camp, papers in hand to rescue Jews.)

Foley's effort came to light in the late 1990's when an English reporter Michael Smith found out about him as he researched material for a book on British intelligence. Smith ended up writing a book about Foley and it was the testimony that he gathered that helped make the case for Foley at Yad Vashem.

Saying that Foley was a spy doesn't quite do him credit. He was apparently one of England's top spies who was involved a number of high profile operations. Among other things, Foley put into place the "Double Cross System." an operation designed to feed disinformation to the Nazis. He also involved in saveing Norway's gold reserves from the Nazis.

In the course of his work he became aware of the existence of the Mossad Le'Aliyah Bet - the effort to smuggle Jews illegally into Israel and a forerunner to Israel's external spy agency - and did not report it. His silence no doubt saved many more as it's not hard to imagine that his superiors would have put a stop to the effort.

It's been asked why the Allies didn't to more to stop the extermination. The answer is that it wasn't possible due to the war effort. However on his own level Foley clearly rejected this argument. Despite his value to the war effort he saved Jews at great personal risk.

The British Foreign Office has scanned a number of documents pertaining to Foley's career. Most are his observations on the deteriorating conditions in Germany. In one he wonders if Shanghai was a good choice for Jews to escape to and concludes that the uncertainty of Shanghai was preferable to the certainty of Germany.

The most telling letter though is a response to a Dr. Arian in Tel Aviv. Foley had gotten a visa for Dr. Arian's mother and Dr. Arian had written him a thank you note. Foley responds that he appreciate the praise of "the office" and laments that it didn't have the power it once, else it would have been able to save thousands not just hundreds.

It was that self-effacing nature that probably hindered the recognition of Frank Foley. It is why he was referred to as the Scarlet Pimpernel - a fictional character who saved many from the guillotines of revolutionary France.

Frank Foley did his work quietly and effectively. And that why he is now honored.

The British Embassy in Berlin honored its onetime employee in 2004 on the 120th anniversary of his birth.

I'd like to thank my daughter for writing a report on the book "Foley" by Michael Smith and discussing this great man with me.

Frank Foley