A short service took place next to Highbridge’s Frank Foley Statue in Market Street on Monday (January 27th) to commemorate World Holocaust Day.
Highbridge War Memorial Trust organised the service, which was led by Reverend Dan Crouch of St John’s Church and local clergy.
Flowers and candles were laid at the Frank Foley statue in Market Street by local dignitaries and residents including Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge councillors plus Sedgemoor District Council Chairman Cllr Peter Clayton and local members of the Royal British Legion.
Monday’s ceremony in Highbridge included prayers in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution.
Frank Foley, who was born in Highbridge’s Walrow, was a British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) officer at the British embassy in Berlin between 1920 and 1939 who ‘bent the rules’ by working as a passport officer and helped thousands of Jewish families escape from Nazi Germany after Kristallnacht and before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Mayor Cllr Andy Brewer told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This year’s ceremony was extra special, taking place on the 75th anniversary since Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz. It’s touching to see this ceremony recalling the contribution of Frank Foley, who was a real Highbridge heo.”
Last year, we reported that the Foreign Secretary had unveiled a new Frank Foley bust in London in Frank Foley’s honour.
