Frank Foley

Frank Foley was a British intelligence officer who served in Berlin under the cover position of Passport Control Officer at the British embassy. His official role placed him at the centre of visa and passport work, while he also ran the local Secret Intelligence Service station and reported on political and military developments in Germany.

Foley used his position to assist Jews seeking to leave Nazi Germany, helping applicants obtain documentation and navigate restrictions that could otherwise prevent emigration. After the war his intelligence career remained little known for many years. His rescue work was later recognised by Yad Vashem, which named him Righteous Among the Nations.

Michael Ridpath’s Traitor’s Gate brings Frank Foley into the dangerous diplomatic and intelligence world of Berlin in 1938. As the British passport control officer who also worked for intelligence and helped Jews escape Nazi persecution, Foley provides the historical counterpart to Conrad de Lancey’s clandestine struggle: an official whose apparently bureaucratic position could be used to issue papers, bend rules and turn consular work into a means of rescue under an increasingly violent regime.