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A recent visit by the UK's special envoy for 'post-Holocaust issues' to Alderney gave the island a chance to explain what it was like for the evacuated population to return to the island after the Second World War.
This is according to to the States of Alderney President, William Tate, who welcomed Lord Eric Pickles and Dr Gilly Carr, the CI Representative of the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, to the island on Friday 12 July.
They were able to visit the Hammond Memorial, despite the visit being shorter than planned because of weather delays, but they also had time to speak to Alderney Residents Sally and Billy Bohan, and Pat Short.
The whole matter of what happened on Alderney during its occupation in the war recently came in to the spotlight again following a documentary which labeled the island 'Adolf Island'. It raised the question of whether there was more than just labour camps on Alderney.
The visit was part of continued discussions on how this might be investigated.
Mr Tate said: “I was delighted that the party could meet Sally, Billy and Pat because it’s important for everyone to understand how the lives of those who suffered and died on this island are commemorated and how the island community has never forgotten their plight.”
Some of the remains of German structures on Alderney.
The party also went on to visit the site of burials on Longis Common and the former Norderney, Borkum, Sylt and Helgoland labour camp sites. The States of Alderney recently agreed to be represented as part of the Channel Islands delegation in the Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in recognition of the slave labourers of many different nationalities and faiths who died here during the war.
William Tate said: “We were able to ensure that the visitors were able to understand what happened in Alderney from the perspective of its population who were evacuated only to return to an island which had to be rebuilt. The recollections of those returning and what they could deduce from the occupation are part of our story as an island.”
The visitors met with States Members to outline proposals for a possible visit to Alderney in September. This visit would be part of a project to develop European guidelines about best practice in the way in which former slave labour and burial sites are preserved, interpreted and memorialised. Alderney would be one of five communities across Europe contributing to this work. The Policy & Finance Committee will be giving further consideration to these proposals at its next meeting.
Pictured top: Lord Pickles, centre, and the rest of the visiting party.
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