Page 52 - Was Hitler a Riddle?

The British Diplomats 39

assessment: “Wherever the party extremists are allowed to have their way,
and in this respect Herr Hitler must be included amongst them, it seems
likely [that such a policy will be] put into practice, if not in one way then in
another.” late in 1936, Phipps reported that acting Gauleiter Karl Holz, a
53
deputy to streicher, had raised the hope that all Jews would disappear. in a
speech in Herzbruck on October 27, he declared, “We have not built up the
third reich for decayed professors or for monks and nuns and Hallelujah
singers. if all the Jews were one night struck dead throughout the world,
this would be one of the most sacred days of celebration in the whole history
of the world.” even before this speech had been delivered, Newton had
54
included (in late august 1936) in a dispatch to anthony eden the observa-
tion that “even if no further persecution is in store, and this is doubtful, the
present situation is such that there is no doubt that to the rising generation
of Jews, emigration offers the only hope of a free and useful life.” 55

savior of jews

sympathy for the plight of the Jews was widespread among British of-
ficials in Germany, but one man who was not a diplomat but connected
with the British embassy took it upon himself to help Jews escape. it is an
extraordinary story and deserves retelling, even though it departs slightly
from the main theme of this book. Francis edward Foley, born in 1884, was
well acquainted with Germany and German culture long before he began
his tour of duty in Berlin in the early 1930s. When World War i broke out,
he was in Hamburg as a student of philosophy; eager to avoid arrest and
to return to his home country, he resorted to various ruses. He donned the
uniform of a Prussian army officer and made his way to emden, where a
priest and several fishermen helped him reach Holland, which was not in-
volved in the conflict. soon after returning to england, he joined the army,
received a commission as second lieutenant, and was sent to the western
front, where he engaged in some fierce battles and was seriously wounded.
When he recovered, he joined a unit that supervised a network of spies in
France, Belgium, and Holland.
For the rest of his life, Foley worked as a spy, and during the Nazi era he
headed the British secret intelligence service (Mi6) in Berlin. His primary
task was to track soviet spies and agitators; officials in london appointed
him as the passport control officer to serve as cover. He took the post seri-
ously; he wrote several reports on the plight of the Jews and, more impor-