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British ambassador Sir Peter Torry,
right, explains to Elisheva Lernau a memorial stone in memory
to Frank Foley inside British embassy in Berlin Wednesday, Nov. 24,
2004. | |
A British agent who saved thousands of Jews
from the Nazis is being remembered with a plaque being placed outside the
British embassy in Berlin.
Frank Foley was based in Berlin in the 1930s, working as a passport
control officer, and using his position to provide papers for Jewish
people.
It is believed Mr Foley saved tens of thousands of lives, even hiding
people in his own home.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described him as "a true British hero".
Eyewitnesses recall Mr Foley as an unassuming hero - a small, slightly
overweight man with round glasses .
But he was actually Britain's top spy in the city.
He not only interpreted the rules on visas loosely, enabling Jews to
escape to Britain and Palestine, but he also helped to forge passports.
And, despite not having diplomatic
immunity, he gave shelter to some people in his own home.
Mr Foley's efforts have already been recognised by Israel, which
declared him a righteous gentile, like Oskar Schindler, and he has also
been honoured by his home town of Stourbridge in the West Midlands.
Michael Smith of the Daily Telegraph, who wrote a book about him, said
that although it is not known exactly how many lives Mr Foley saved,
archive evidence would suggest the number was in the tens of thousands.
He said, "With Schindler you had 1,400 people working in a factory,
working with him, they worked closely together. Their lives were together.
"So when they moved to Palestine, which later became Israel, they are
all talking to each other, they are still on the phone to each other even
if they are not living in Israel - they have a collective memory of what
Schindler did.
"But with Foley a lot of the people he helped probably didn't even know
he helped them.
"They were helped in ones or twos or in small family units - five or
six people perhaps. They have got to Palestine. They have a visa they know they shouldn't have - they are not going to talk
about it."
(Agencies) |
一位英國間諜曾經從納粹營中救出了數千名猶太人，日前，在英國駐柏林大使館外豎起一塊牌子來紀念這位英雄人物。
20世紀30年代時，弗蘭克·福利在柏林從事護照簽發工作，他利用職務之便為猶太人提供（逃離所必需的）證件。
據悉，福利先生挽救了數萬名猶太人的生命，他甚至把猶太人藏匿在自己家中。
英國外交大臣杰克·司特勞稱他是 “真正的大不列顛英雄”。
據一些見證人回憶，福利先生是一位謙遜的英雄——一個戴著圓框眼鏡、微微有些發胖的小個子男人。
但他實際上是英國派駐柏林市的頂級間諜。
他不僅從寬解釋有關簽證的法規，使猶太人可以逃往英國和巴勒斯坦，而且還幫助猶太人偽造護照。
而且，盡管沒有外交豁免權，他仍然讓一些猶太人住在自己家里避難。
福利先生的功績已經得到以色列的承認，和奧斯卡·辛德勒一樣，他也獲得了以色列政府頒發的“正義外邦人”勛章。他還受到了來自他的家鄉（西米德蘭的斯陶爾布里奇鎮）的褒獎。
《每日電訊報》的邁克爾·史密斯寫了一本關于他的書，他說，盡管沒人知道福利先生究竟挽救了多少條生命，但相關的檔案證據顯示這個數字應該是幾萬。
他說，“有1400人在辛德勒的工廠干活，他們和他在一起，并肩工作。他們的生命是連在一起的�！�
“因此當他們遷移到巴勒斯坦（后來的以色列），他們彼此交流；即使后來他們不在以色列生活了，他們仍然保持電話聯系——對辛德勒所做的一切，他們擁有共同的記憶�！�
“但是對福利來說，他幫助過的很多人可能根本不知道是他幫助了他們。”
“他們接受幫助時通常是一兩個人或是一個小家庭（也許有五六人）。他們去了巴勒斯坦。他們拿到了連自己都清楚本來不該擁有的護照。他們是不會對別人說起這件事的�！�
（中國日報網站譯） |
Updated: 2004-11-29 10:31