Foley: The Spy Who Saved 10,000 Jews

by Michael Smith

Frank Foley worked as Passport Control Officer in Berlin during the war and helped thousands of Jews to escape from Germany. At the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann he was described as a ‘Scarlet Pimpernel’, risking his own life to save Jews threatened with death by the Nazis. In fact, his post at the Passport Office was a front for his real role as MI6 head of station. Despite having no diplomatic immunity and being liable to arrest at any time, he went into the concentration camps to get Jews out, he hid them in his home and helped them to get forged passports. One Jewish aid worker estimated that he saved ‘tens of thousands’ of people from the Holocaust.
Michael Smith has researched and vividly written one of the greatest unknown heroic stories of the Second World War.

Just as we published this remarkable book in Hardback in January 1999, the RIGHTEOUS AMONG NATIONS accolade was bestowed upon Frank Foley by Yad Vasham - Israel's Holocaust Memorial Centre

The evidence collected for the book by Michael Smith proved conclusive enough for the award, also held by Oskar Schindler. now this new edition is made more accessible for those interested in reading Michael Smith's astonishing story of selfless heroism. Sales of the hardback put the book on the edge of the Sunday Times Top Ten non-fiction bestsellers, and soon afterwards the special edition tpk sold out [5k copies].

After the award had been announced, Michael Smith, author of FOLEY: THE SPY WHO SAVED l0,000 JEWS, called Frank Foley 'a true British hero who worked not just for his country, but also for justice and the good of humanity. He has saved tens of thousands of lives. No-one could have deserved this award more.'

FOLEY tells for the first time the story of Frank Foley's heroism and humanity. He was a spy-a fact that made his efforts on behalf of the Jews even more dangerous. His role as head of the British passport control office in Berlin was cover for his real role as MI6 Head of Station in the German capital. In this position he had no diplomatic immunity and was liable to arrest at any time, but for years he ignored all the rules to help Jews to leave the country.

This is one of the greatest untold stories of heroism and humanity from the second world war recounted for the first time. When the Nazis came to power in the early l930s, it was clear that they were intent on obliterating all signs of Jewish influence from Germany and that tens of thousands of Jews would suffer horribly at the hands of Hitler's acolytes. For many of Germany's beleaguered Jews, Frank Foley, a quiet, unobtrusive and determined Englishman was to become their saviour.

He was not only a brave and humane man, he was also one of the most brilliant intelligence officers ever to serve in MI6, and deserves recognition as such. It was through his flair for recruiting agents that the allies obtained details of Hitler's secret rocket programme and the progress of its atomic research. He was also the MI6 officer on the Double Cross Committee, masterminding the recruitment of German spies across the world to work as double agents for the British.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Holocaust, Espionage, War, World War II

1 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

There is more than one Michael Smith in the database.

Michael Smith is a British author and screenwriter who specializes in spies and espionage.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Lawrence Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

You need to appreciate that Captain Frank Foley was at times both a spy and a civil servant and in an age when both jobs could be exercised to whatever degree the individual cared about his duties to country or the common good or where possibly both. If he had chosen to be a strict civil servant as other colleagues behaved he would have turned a blind eye to the happenings in Germany, to the persecution of the Jews and to the uncivilised practices of an evil and sadistic state regime. It was the independence of being an operative of MI6 that made his awareness and humanitarian actions so notable. He bent rules to give many an opportunity to escape the horrors of the concentration camps and the ruthless bloody persecution of honest and upright citizens. He lived in Germany for many years and saw the way evil gripped a nation and in a quiet and methodical way went about helping as many as he could without getting caught by either his government employers or the Nazi authorities. The book gives a very detailed understanding of the society and the system that trapped and killed so many and you are left wondering why countries like Britain did not do more to help but one could ask the same question about the Syrians fleeing their country today - the sickening attitudes to those being persecuted is not just endemic in other countries but lives on in so called democratic and law abiding nations as well. The book follows this understated and modest man as he continues his involvement through the war and makes you even more impressed by his MI6 duties and actions. I came away wondering what wasn't included because of both the clandestine activities and the Official Secrets Act but what made me, a retired civil servant, so proud was that this man moved heaven and earth to save who he could and put the common man above the red tape and bureaucratic rules of indifference. If you doubt what took place in Germany under Nazism then you need to read this book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book initially seemed to me to be as unassuming as the man depicted on its pages. And like Capt. Frank Foley, who was a genuine hero, the book proved to be much richer than I had expected. It tells the story, as the title says, of Frank Foley, who, while working for British Intelligence during World War II in Berlin (he spoke fluent German) also served as the Director of the Passport Control Office and in that post, may very well have saved the lives of over 10,000 Jews. Afterward, he continued to Norway, where he represented the British government in war meetings with the Commander General of the Norwegian forces; and, on leaving there, continued in M!6, where among his duties, he briefed Rudolf Hess, maintained his contacts among the spies in Germany, and was instrumental in the attempt by British Intelligence to mislead the Germans regarding the landing on Normandy. After the war, he returned to Berlin where he sought out Nazis who were conspiring to return the former regime.
The book contains a wealth of information. Its descriptions of Foley's activities in Berlin to save the Jews, risking his life and virtually going against the restrictions placed on immigration both by the British and American governments are riveting. Smith has a superb ability of summarizing events in a clear and engaging way.
An important read.

[Tim Turnbull · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Smith has created a wonderful tribute in his book on the amazing work of Frank Foley. Frank operated as an important spy for Britain during World War II, and whose efforts while placed in the British Passport Office in Berlin not only served Britain’s wartime interests, but saved many thousands of Jews who needed a safe passage out of Nazi occupied Europe.

Frank Foley’s story was not widely known as he was a MI6 Officer and much of his work during the war was kept secret during the early cold war days immediately after World War II. Michael Smith’s biography paints Frank Foley as a decent, compassionate man who was willing take personal risks in order to protect life. He was based in Berlin during a perilous time and bore witness to the increasing horrors of the Nazi regime and the many Germans who backed it and enabled it. Frank’s clear thinking, humanity and tenacity saved the lives of thousands of European Jews.

[Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

La storia di un uomo coraggioso, ispirato da nobili sentimenti ed ideali. Pur in tempi difficili e incoerenti non rinunciò ad essere "umano " e a prendersi carico della sofferenza e dolore a cui assisteva.

[Roberta Westwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

An absolutely outstanding book. I had not heard of Foley before, but he made a huge difference. The number of Jews he saved was remarkable. He also played a key role in so many other aspects of WWII. Glad his story is being told. Highly recommended.

[Bart]

todo

[Ginny Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history of the era and a very ordinary man who achieved so much.

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first time I have come across Frank Foley, an MI6 agent stationed in Berlin under the cover of Passport Control Officer during the pre-war period. With the declaration of war he transferred to Norway, and with Norway's fall back to the UK where he acted as a liaison officer between MI5 and MI6, an important role in the smooth functioning of the Double Cross Committee or Twenty Club and amongst other duties debriefed Rudolph Hess.

The main interest in this biography is Michael Smith's explanation of the difficulties facing the German Jews and the extra-ordinary catch-22 situation in which they found themselves. Emigration to Palestine was complex with British concerns over Arab reactions and the punitive regulations introduced by the Nazis. The Americans had strict quotas. The British government had anxieties about popular reaction to the refugees who flooded the Southern English ports, as well as concern about spies. In Foley's cover duties as passport officer, he showed compassion and an extraordinary ability to bend the rules to provide visas for as many people as he could. He was aware of the illegal shipments of refugees into Palestine but failed to inform British Admiralty, allowing the safe passage of many vessels.

I am surprised at the amount of high level information that Foley and his teams were able to send to London, and the dismissal of so much of it on the grounds that this was contrary to British thinking.

A well written book, well researched by an author who considers Foley to have been overlooked. I also feel some shame about the past, as well as concern for the plight of refugees of the present.

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't heard of this Englishman Foley until I alighted by chance on this book. This is perhaps one of the truely great and little known stories of heroisim and mans humanity from the II WW. Cool and unexaggerated but still an edge of your seat read.

[Hari · Rating 4 out of 5]

reads a little too much like a history book (which really, it is), but still gripping in its depictions of horror and courage.