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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(jīng)從納粹營中救出了數(shù)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(jì)念這位英雄人物。
20世紀(jì)30年代時(shí)，弗蘭克·福利在柏林從事護(hù)照簽發(fā)工作，他利用職務(wù)之便為猶太人提供（逃離所必需的）證件。
據(jù)悉，福利先生挽救了數(shù)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(jù)一些見證人回憶，福利先生是一位謙遜的英雄——一個(gè)戴著圓框眼鏡、微微有些發(fā)胖的小個(gè)子男人。
但他實(shí)際上是英國派駐柏林市的頂級(jí)間諜。
他不僅從寬解釋有關(guān)簽證的法規(guī)，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(hù)照。
而且，盡管沒有外交豁免權(quán)，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(jīng)得到以色列的承認(rèn)，和奧斯卡·辛德勒一樣，他也獲得了以色列政府頒發(fā)的“正義外邦人”勛章。他還受到了來自他的家鄉(xiāng)（西米德蘭的斯陶爾布里奇鎮(zhèn)）的褒獎(jiǎng)。
《每日電訊報(bào)》的邁克爾·史密斯寫了一本關(guān)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(guān)的檔案證據(jù)顯示這個(gè)數(shù)字應(yīng)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(dāng)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?nèi)匀槐３蛛娫捖?lián)系——對(duì)辛德勒所做的一切，他們擁有共同的記憶�！�
“但是對(duì)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(shí)通常是一兩個(gè)人或是一個(gè)小家庭（也許有五六人）。他們?nèi)チ税屠账固�。他們拿到了連自己都清楚本來不該擁有的護(hù)照。他們是不會(huì)對(duì)別人說起這件事的�！�
（中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)站譯） |
Updated: 2004-11-29 10:31