The annual ceremony to commemorate World Holocaust Day at Highbridge’s Frank Foley Statue won’t take place next week due to the Coronavirus lockdown, it has been confirmed, but residents are being encouraged to hold a moment of silence at home instead.
Highbridge War Memorial Trust usually holds the annual commemoration on January 27th, conducted by members of the Highbridge Clergy when wreaths are laid besides the statue.
For the first time since the statue was installed, the event won’t go ahead.
Derek Cooper, one of the organisers, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “Sadly, with the current lockdown we can’t hold a ceremony this year but we are encouraging local people to hold their own moment of silence safely at home instead to mark the occasion.”
Highbridge-born Frank Foley was employed as a Passport Control Officer in Berlin from 1920 until 1939.
In his role, he was able to help hundreds of Jews escape from Nazi Germany before the outbreak of World War Two.
He had no diplomatic immunity and put himself at great risk by helping to save the lives of 10,000 Jews.
In 2019, we reported that the Foreign Secretary had unveiled a new Frank Foley bust in London in Frank Foley’s honour.
