Victims of Nazi Persecution in the Channel Islands by Gilly Carr;

Author:Gilly Carr;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781474245678
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

6

An ‘Unofficial Official’: The Role of Frank Falla

On 9 June 1964, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Richard Butler, made a statement to the House of Commons.

I am glad to announce that the Federal German Government have agreed to pay to Her Majesty’s Government the sum of £1 million to compensate certain British victims of measures of Nazi persecution, that is to say, United Kingdom nationals, who, as a result of such measures, suffered loss of liberty or damage to their health, and the dependants of those who died as a result of such measures.1

In the Channel Islands, Frank Falla had been waiting for this announcement for many years. His excitement upon hearing Butler’s statement was noted in his diary that day, as was his inability to sleep over the next few nights. This was the beginning of the end of a long journey for him, one that would be completed by the publication of his wartime memoirs a year after the compensation claims closed. The impetus for the memoirs had been triggered by the composition of his testimony of Nazi persecution. But in 1964, his testimony had not yet been written, although echoes of its early drafts can be read in the newspaper articles he wrote for the Guernsey Evening Press and the JEP soon after his release from prison.

In this chapter we delve into the details of Falla’s role in the compensation claims as gleaned from his extensive personal files (Figure 6.1). More than anybody else in the Channel Islands, Frank Falla fought for the right of former political prisoners to receive compensation. His role is such that it merits its own chapter, and it stands as a tribute to all that he did for his fellow Islanders. Falla was determined to set out the case for legitimacy for himself and his friends, and this chapter explores the methods he used to achieve this.

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