That Was Jersey |
Local history for everyone |
CHANNEL ISLANDS |
About 11,500 German soldiers came to Jersey as the Occupying Force, although the numbers fluctuated throughout the Occupation. They were billeted in large houses, hotels and other buildings taken over for the purpose.
According to the census ordered by the States and taken on 10th August, 1940, there were 41,101 people living in Jersey at that time.
Through the Organisation Todt the Germans brought thousands of foreign workers to Jersey to work in slave conditions. They worked at hard labour for long hours and little food. They were the construction workers for bunkers and tunnels, all made from concrete. There are many reports of harsh treatment of these workers; some Jersey people risked severe punishments by helping some of these workers, and giving them food.
The workers came from Russia (over a thousand arrived in August 1942), France, Poland, with others from Spain and Algeria. In addition to bunkers and tunnels, they built seawalls and railways.
Several categories of people were deported to Germany to the camps set up for prisoners there. The first people to be deported were the members of the British armed forces who had been caught in Jersey by the Occupation. They left the island in July 1940. In the autumn the German authorities suspected that some of these people might still be in the Island, being sheltered by friends. An Order was therefore issued and printed in the Evening Post, the Order being dated 1st November 1940.
Two years later a notice appeared in the Evening Post requiring all those whose permanent residence was outside of the Channel Islands to prepare for deportation. At the same time all English men from 16 to 70 who were not Island-born were required to prepare for deportation along with their families. This came as a shock to the Islanders. Nearly 1200 people, including children, were removed to Germany over the next couple of weeks.
There were various orders against Jewish people, and eventually they were all deported.
During the years of Occupation, some people tried to make an escape. For many it was a dream, for some a definite plan, for a few it looked possible, and for a very few there was success. The success rate increased once the French coast had been liberated in 1944, giving a much shorter sea journey and a more welcoming landing. However, there were many who died in the attempt to get away.