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Jersey and French bunkers

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We are trying to fund a better scanning system and more hosting space, if you can afford to make a donation it would be appreciated, to find out more about this work we talked with Paul at WW2TV please watch below.

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Visit to Occupation Tapestry Gallery at the Maritime Museum

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Visit to Occupation Tapestry Gallery at the Maritime Museum

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A Jersey Heritage Education Officer can guide your visit and provide explanations and insight to the 13 panels. This session can also include engaging with handling items.

To book please email education@jerseyheritage.org

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Virtual Tour of Forced Workers Memorial at La Hougue Bie

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Virtual Tour of Forced Workers Memorial at La Hougue Bie

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Explore the bunker at La Hougue Bie. The bunker is now a memorial to the Forced Workers of the Channel Islands.

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UNESCO listed registration cards from the German Occupation of Jersey during the Second World War with information and images of over 30,000 Islanders who lived in Jersey during the Occupation.
The Occupation Registration Cards are a set of unique documents that show the faces, backgrounds and communities of people of Jersey who lived under the German Occupation. Background Wishing to control the movements of the civil population, the German authorities made it compulsory for everybody to be registered under the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. This registration process required the collation of personal details concerning everyone within the island. Every islander was then issued with his or her identity card whilst the German authorities kept an official set which is now at Jersey Archive. The specific information collected includes name, maiden name, address, date and place of birth, occupation, any militia experience and distinguishing features. Children under the age of fourteen were recorded on the back of their father's card. As a result a set of cards was created which recited a great deal of personal information together with a photograph of each adult. They were updated regularly with details added if people moved or had more children and as soon as children reached the age of fourteen they were issued with their own card.

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UNESCO listed registration cards from the German Occupation of Jersey during the Second World War with information and images of over 30,000 Islanders who lived in Jersey during the Occupation. The Occupation Registration Cards are a set of unique documents that show the faces, backgrounds and communities of people of Jersey who lived under the German Occupation.

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LIBERATION

As the years pass, the testimony of those who were there on Liberation Day assumes a new significance. In 1995, to mark the 50th anniversary of Liberation, ITV Channel Television reporter Eric Blakeley set out to record memories of dozens of Channel Islanders who had lived through the German Occupation. Clips of these interviews were seen at the time but they have never been screened in their entirety. Until now.

Channel Television's extensive film archive, dating back to the station's first broadcasts in 1962, is now in the care of the Jersey Archive. So, we are able to see and hear those who bear witness to events on Wednesday 9th May 1945 - the day they thought would never come.

They include photographer Bob Lawrence, Dixie Landick (who filmed the day), young men who had been imprisoned such as Charles Gruchy and Joe Mière, Jerseyman Major Hugh Le Brocq - who landed with the liberators - and Norman Le Brocq of the Jersey Communist Party who had spent the previous three weeks trying to persuade German troops to mutiny. They never did.

These are their stories.

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Liberation - Eyewitness | jerseyheritagetv

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LIBERATION As the years pass, the testimony of those who were there on Liberation Day assumes a new significance. In 1995, to mark the 50th anniversary of Liberation, ITV Channel Television reporter Eric Blakeley set out to record memories of dozens of Channel Islanders who had lived through the German Occupation.

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Discover sites of civilian wartime protest and defiance in Occupied Jersey.

During the German Occupation of Jersey from 1st July 1940 to 9th May 1945, the civilian population of 41,000 lived under the overwhelming presence of 11,000 German troops on an Island of nine by five miles. Whilst large-scale organised resistance activity was not possible, acts of dissent and disobedience were undertaken by many Islanders at great risk to themselves. Typical offences tried by German courts included the possession of a radio - these were confiscated in June 1942 - spreading the BBC news, distributing anti-Nazi propaganda, insulting a member of the German Forces, sheltering escaped Russian slave workers, stealing German goods, attempting to escape from the Island by boat, and possession of a weapon or camera.

This series of short films will introduce you to a selection of important sites intimately connected with stories of Occupation resistance, and give you a sense of the solidarity and patriotism that existed widely in the Island community under these challenging conditions. Please view them in conjunction with the Resistance Trail walking guide which can be collected from any Jersey Heritage visitor site or downloaded in full here.

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Discover sites of civilian wartime protest and defiance in Occupied Jersey. During the German Occupation of Jersey from 1st July 1940 to 9th May 1945, the civilian population of 41,000 lived under the overwhelming presence of 11,000 German troops on an Island of nine by five miles.

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Islanders collect Red Cross Food Parcels

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Islanders collect Red Cross Food Parcels

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Islanders collect Red Cross food parcels from a depot, with the help of the St John’s Ambulance.

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The intervention of the International Red Cross undoubtedly saved many Jersey civilians from starvation once the Channel Islands were cut off from France in August 1944.

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For other ships with the same name, see SS Vega.

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Red Cross ship saved Channel Islanders from WW2 starvation

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Christmas lunch for Channel Islanders in 1944 was a meagre affair and only the arrival of the Red Cross ship the SS Vega a few days later kept thousands alive. The islands had been occupied by the German military since June 1940 and the Allied thrust through Europe had cut off supplies.

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LIBERATION DAY MEMORIES IN COLOUR

Celebrate the 76th anniversary of Liberation Day by watching a film of treasured black and white images from 1945 in full colour at Jersey Museum & Art Gallery.

'Liberation in Colour' is FREE to view and is playing daily in the AV Theatre at 11am and 2.30pm until 16 May 2021. The short film, which is narrated by John Nettles and produced by Alastair Layzell, showcases a series of images that were painstakingly colourised by video editor Richard Hall.

What's on this page?

Follow the links to find specific content on this page:

Liberation 76 - our Archive team work with BBC Jersey to highlight some of the fascinating official papers from the recently-digitised Bailiff's Occupation and Liberation Collection

Webinar with Chris Addy Islanders Liberated, at home and abroad: stories from the Jersey War Tunnels archive

Unique colour film - watch Dr Mortimer Evans' colour film of the very first moments of Liberation.

Liberation Shorts - A series of films

Jersey Heritage TV - A wealth of new material, some of it never seen before

Liberation Learning - A short webinar suitable for KS1 and KS2 learners

Liberation Day footage - Courtesy of ITV (Channel Television)

Online Exhibition - Archives of Liberation

Symbols, Ciphers & Celebration - A short film in two parts about Occupation and Liberation postage stamps

50 Objects - The Story of Jersey's Occupation and Liberation 1940-1945 told through 50 Objects held by Jersey Heritage, recorded by BBC Jersey

The Resistance Trail - A tour of the Island's important sites connected with stories of Occupation resistance

The Jersey Peace Trai l - A tour of St Helier with stories of peace and social justice

Liberation Route Europe - An international remembrance trail

The Occupation Tapestry - 2020 markeed 25 years since the original community project was completed

NEW SHORT FILMS ABOUT LIBERATION

To mark Liberation 76 this year, our Archive team worked with BBC Jersey to highlight some of the fascinating official papers from the recently-digitised Bailiff's Occupation and Liberation Collection.

Webinar with Chris Addy Islanders Liberated, at home and abroad: stories from the Jersey War Tunnels archive

Immortalised

There can be no better way to remember Liberation Day than to watch Dr Mortimer ('Morty') Evans' colour film of its very first moments.

Morty used a Cine-Kodak 16mm camera to record the arrival of the advance party of Liberation Force 135 at the New North Quay, and the joyous reception that they received from hordes of Islanders on the morning of 9 May 1945. To date it is the only known colour sequence recorded on Liberation Day itself, as is consequently very precious.

Courtesy of ITV (Channel Television)

Liberation shorts

This series of films focuses on the Liberation stories of Islanders in Jersey, British-born Channel Islanders interned in Germany and families who evacuated to England in June 1940. The testimony of Occupation veterans' descendants is also centre stage, as they explore what freedom means today and the importance of sharing the memory of this momentous time in Jersey's history. As Stan Keiller remarks, "I would say to the youth of this lovely Island, value and cherish your freedom, and guard it well."

value your freedom

David Peacock vividly describes the arrival on 28 April 1945 of Free French forces at Wurzach internment camp in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where he and more than 600 other British-born Islanders were held captive for almost three years. David's experience is of fundamental importance to his descendants.

THE MESSAGE OF LIBERATION

This poignant film shares the thoughts of three generations of the Keiller Family on the significance of the Liberation of Jersey from German Occupation on 9 May 1945, and how it's special values can be kept alive in the years to come.

75 YEARS, 60 DESCENDANTS

Occupation veteran Beulah Le Cornu married Spanish Republican forced worker Cristobal Lopez Rubio in 1943. Cristobal was one of around 2,000 Spaniards brought to Jersey and made to labour on the German fortifications, under the control of the ill-reputed Organisation Todt.

Beulah and Cristobal had six children together. They now have almost 60 descendants. The memories of the wartime years remain important to the family who, in normal circumstances, come together without fail each Liberation Day to remember.

REUNITED AT LAST

Most evacuees had returned to Jersey and were gradually getting their lives back into order. Months after the Liberation, Jean McLaughlin and her mother were still waiting anxiously in Weymouth for her father to return from Burma, so that they could return to the Island as a family.

Proud

Dora Hacquoil was imprisoned for assisting a Russian slave worker evade capture. Evelyn Janvrin and Allan Costard were locked up for attempting to escape and sharing BBC news. Stonemason Joseph Le Guyader laid the 'V-for-Victory' in the Royal Square under the eyes of the Occupying Forces. Family members share a collective pride in the actions of their forebears, and a determination to pass on these values to future generations.

A Defining Moment

On Liberation Day Occupation veteran Bob Le Sueur was unexpectedly overcome with emotion, having witnessed a symbol of the Allied victory. He describes the abiding significance of the moment.

JErsey Heritage TV

Jersey Heritage TV marked the 75th anniversary of the Liberation online by adding a wealth of new material - some of it never seen before.
Visit the Jersey Heritage TV website.

Liberation Learning

This short webinar focuses on the lead up to the 9th May 1945 and what actually happened in the Channel Islands so that British Troops could ensure the safe liberation of the islands from their five years of Occupation and is suitable for KS1 and KS2 learners. You'll find additional content for home-learning on our Schools pages.

Liberation Day Footage

Captured on Celluloid

A huge expectant crowd in the Royal Square on 8 May listens to the Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, talking from a balcony of the Royal Court. The first men of Liberation Force 135 are swamped by a vast and triumphal crowd. A young lady holds up to the camera the front page of the Evening Post newspaper, which reads 'The Channel Islands Free Again'. These moments of extraordinary power and significance will have you transfixed. Courtesy of ITV (Channel Television)

Online Exhbition - Archives of Liberation

Archives help tell us the stories of the people who experienced the Liberation of the Channel Islands on 9 May 1945. As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Liberation Day and read these documents we can hear and see echoes of the joy of Liberation.

In 2020 the Bailiff's Occupation and Liberation Archive was digitised and made available online as part of the 75th Anniversary celebrations. The project is supported by the Association of Jersey Charities, Channel Island's Lottery and Bailiff's Chambers.

Online Exhibition - Symbols, Ciphers & Celebration

With thanks to Jersey Post.

A short film in two parts about Occupation and Liberation postage stamps - the first part offering context for the second. Part one considers the design of postage stamps during the German Occupation, and how passive resistance played an important part in their conception. Part two reveals the fascinating design process behind the six new Liberation 75 commemorative stamps,released on 9 May 2020.

50 Objects

The Story of Jersey's Occupation and Liberation 1940-1945 told through 50 Objects held by Jersey Heritage, recorded by BBC Jersey.

In 2019 BBC Jersey's Senior Communities Journalist Cathy Le Feuvre approached Jersey Heritage and suggested we work together to tell the story of Occupation and Liberation through the objects and documents held within the Jersey Heritage Collections.

Thanks to BBC Jersey for their support.

The resistance trail

This series of short films will introduce you to a selection of important sites intimately connected with stories of Occupation resistance, and give you a sense of the solidarity and patriotism that existed widely in the Island community under these challenging conditions. Originally made to view in conjunction with the Resistance Trail walking guide.

There are 14 short films, use the panel on the top left of the video to skip through to the next film.

The Jersey Peace Trail

The Jersey Peace Trail is a tour of St Helier from west to east through the heart of town. Discover stories of peace and social justice from Elizabeth Fry's campaign for reform of the Island's prison to the reconciliation process of the postwar years between Jersey and its German occupiers. The walking guide can be downloaded here.

There are 15 short films, use the panel on the top left of the video to skip through to the next film.

Liberation Route Europe

Liberation Route Europe is a continuously growing, international remembrance trail, connecting important milestones of modern European history. Liberation Route Europe links the main regions along the advance of the Western Allied Forces.

Alongside Visit Jersey and Visit Guernsey, Jersey Heritage is taking part in a Channel Islands section of the trail, which focuses on the liberation of continental Europe from the National Socialist occupation, and specifically, the long-lasting consequences of World War II.

Occupation Tapestry

The 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Channel Islands also marked 25 years since the original tapestry was completed. The tapestry continues to tell the story of a community project that provokes a deep sense of pride, draws immense praise and can move people to tears.

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Celebrate the 76th anniversary of Liberation Day by watching a film of treasured black and white images from 1945 in full colour at Jersey Museum & Art Gallery. 'Liberation in Colour' is FREE to view and is playing daily in the AV Theatre at 11am and 2.30pm until 16 May 2021.

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LIBERATION DAY MEMORIES IN COLOUR

Celebrate the 76th anniversary of Liberation Day by watching a film of treasured black and white images from 1945 in full colour at Jersey Museum & Art Gallery.

'Liberation in Colour' is FREE to view and is playing daily in the AV Theatre at 11am and 2.30pm until 16 May 2021. The short film, which is narrated by John Nettles and produced by Alastair Layzell, showcases a series of images that were painstakingly colourised by video editor Richard Hall.

What's on this page?

Follow the links to find specific content on this page:

Liberation 76 - our Archive team work with BBC Jersey to highlight some of the fascinating official papers from the recently-digitised Bailiff's Occupation and Liberation Collection

Webinar with Chris Addy Islanders Liberated, at home and abroad: stories from the Jersey War Tunnels archive

Unique colour film - watch Dr Mortimer Evans' colour film of the very first moments of Liberation.

Liberation Shorts - A series of films

Jersey Heritage TV - A wealth of new material, some of it never seen before

Liberation Learning - A short webinar suitable for KS1 and KS2 learners

Liberation Day footage - Courtesy of ITV (Channel Television)

Online Exhibition - Archives of Liberation

Symbols, Ciphers & Celebration - A short film in two parts about Occupation and Liberation postage stamps

50 Objects - The Story of Jersey's Occupation and Liberation 1940-1945 told through 50 Objects held by Jersey Heritage, recorded by BBC Jersey

The Resistance Trail - A tour of the Island's important sites connected with stories of Occupation resistance

The Jersey Peace Trai l - A tour of St Helier with stories of peace and social justice

Liberation Route Europe - An international remembrance trail

The Occupation Tapestry - 2020 markeed 25 years since the original community project was completed

NEW SHORT FILMS ABOUT LIBERATION

To mark Liberation 76 this year, our Archive team worked with BBC Jersey to highlight some of the fascinating official papers from the recently-digitised Bailiff's Occupation and Liberation Collection.

Webinar with Chris Addy Islanders Liberated, at home and abroad: stories from the Jersey War Tunnels archive

Immortalised

There can be no better way to remember Liberation Day than to watch Dr Mortimer ('Morty') Evans' colour film of its very first moments.

Morty used a Cine-Kodak 16mm camera to record the arrival of the advance party of Liberation Force 135 at the New North Quay, and the joyous reception that they received from hordes of Islanders on the morning of 9 May 1945. To date it is the only known colour sequence recorded on Liberation Day itself, as is consequently very precious.

Courtesy of ITV (Channel Television)

Liberation shorts

This series of films focuses on the Liberation stories of Islanders in Jersey, British-born Channel Islanders interned in Germany and families who evacuated to England in June 1940. The testimony of Occupation veterans' descendants is also centre stage, as they explore what freedom means today and the importance of sharing the memory of this momentous time in Jersey's history. As Stan Keiller remarks, "I would say to the youth of this lovely Island, value and cherish your freedom, and guard it well."

value your freedom

David Peacock vividly describes the arrival on 28 April 1945 of Free French forces at Wurzach internment camp in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, where he and more than 600 other British-born Islanders were held captive for almost three years. David's experience is of fundamental importance to his descendants.

THE MESSAGE OF LIBERATION

This poignant film shares the thoughts of three generations of the Keiller Family on the significance of the Liberation of Jersey from German Occupation on 9 May 1945, and how it's special values can be kept alive in the years to come.

75 YEARS, 60 DESCENDANTS

Occupation veteran Beulah Le Cornu married Spanish Republican forced worker Cristobal Lopez Rubio in 1943. Cristobal was one of around 2,000 Spaniards brought to Jersey and made to labour on the German fortifications, under the control of the ill-reputed Organisation Todt.

Beulah and Cristobal had six children together. They now have almost 60 descendants. The memories of the wartime years remain important to the family who, in normal circumstances, come together without fail each Liberation Day to remember.

REUNITED AT LAST

Most evacuees had returned to Jersey and were gradually getting their lives back into order. Months after the Liberation, Jean McLaughlin and her mother were still waiting anxiously in Weymouth for her father to return from Burma, so that they could return to the Island as a family.

Proud

Dora Hacquoil was imprisoned for assisting a Russian slave worker evade capture. Evelyn Janvrin and Allan Costard were locked up for attempting to escape and sharing BBC news. Stonemason Joseph Le Guyader laid the 'V-for-Victory' in the Royal Square under the eyes of the Occupying Forces. Family members share a collective pride in the actions of their forebears, and a determination to pass on these values to future generations.

A Defining Moment

On Liberation Day Occupation veteran Bob Le Sueur was unexpectedly overcome with emotion, having witnessed a symbol of the Allied victory. He describes the abiding significance of the moment.

JErsey Heritage TV

Jersey Heritage TV marked the 75th anniversary of the Liberation online by adding a wealth of new material - some of it never seen before.
Visit the Jersey Heritage TV website.

Liberation Learning

This short webinar focuses on the lead up to the 9th May 1945 and what actually happened in the Channel Islands so that British Troops could ensure the safe liberation of the islands from their five years of Occupation and is suitable for KS1 and KS2 learners. You'll find additional content for home-learning on our Schools pages.

Liberation Day Footage

Captured on Celluloid

A huge expectant crowd in the Royal Square on 8 May listens to the Bailiff, Alexander Coutanche, talking from a balcony of the Royal Court. The first men of Liberation Force 135 are swamped by a vast and triumphal crowd. A young lady holds up to the camera the front page of the Evening Post newspaper, which reads 'The Channel Islands Free Again'. These moments of extraordinary power and significance will have you transfixed. Courtesy of ITV (Channel Television)

Online Exhbition - Archives of Liberation

Archives help tell us the stories of the people who experienced the Liberation of the Channel Islands on 9 May 1945. As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Liberation Day and read these documents we can hear and see echoes of the joy of Liberation.

In 2020 the Bailiff's Occupation and Liberation Archive was digitised and made available online as part of the 75th Anniversary celebrations. The project is supported by the Association of Jersey Charities, Channel Island's Lottery and Bailiff's Chambers.

Online Exhibition - Symbols, Ciphers & Celebration

With thanks to Jersey Post.

A short film in two parts about Occupation and Liberation postage stamps - the first part offering context for the second. Part one considers the design of postage stamps during the German Occupation, and how passive resistance played an important part in their conception. Part two reveals the fascinating design process behind the six new Liberation 75 commemorative stamps,released on 9 May 2020.

50 Objects

The Story of Jersey's Occupation and Liberation 1940-1945 told through 50 Objects held by Jersey Heritage, recorded by BBC Jersey.

In 2019 BBC Jersey's Senior Communities Journalist Cathy Le Feuvre approached Jersey Heritage and suggested we work together to tell the story of Occupation and Liberation through the objects and documents held within the Jersey Heritage Collections.

Thanks to BBC Jersey for their support.

The resistance trail

This series of short films will introduce you to a selection of important sites intimately connected with stories of Occupation resistance, and give you a sense of the solidarity and patriotism that existed widely in the Island community under these challenging conditions. Originally made to view in conjunction with the Resistance Trail walking guide.

There are 14 short films, use the panel on the top left of the video to skip through to the next film.

The Jersey Peace Trail

The Jersey Peace Trail is a tour of St Helier from west to east through the heart of town. Discover stories of peace and social justice from Elizabeth Fry's campaign for reform of the Island's prison to the reconciliation process of the postwar years between Jersey and its German occupiers. The walking guide can be downloaded here.

There are 15 short films, use the panel on the top left of the video to skip through to the next film.

Liberation Route Europe

Liberation Route Europe is a continuously growing, international remembrance trail, connecting important milestones of modern European history. Liberation Route Europe links the main regions along the advance of the Western Allied Forces.

Alongside Visit Jersey and Visit Guernsey, Jersey Heritage is taking part in a Channel Islands section of the trail, which focuses on the liberation of continental Europe from the National Socialist occupation, and specifically, the long-lasting consequences of World War II.

Occupation Tapestry

The 75th anniversary of the Liberation of the Channel Islands also marked 25 years since the original tapestry was completed. The tapestry continues to tell the story of a community project that provokes a deep sense of pride, draws immense praise and can move people to tears.

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Celebrate the 76th anniversary of Liberation Day by watching a film of treasured black and white images from 1945 in full colour at Jersey Museum & Art Gallery. 'Liberation in Colour' is FREE to view and is playing daily in the AV Theatre at 11am and 2.30pm until 16 May 2021.

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Organisation Todt (OT; [ʔɔʁɡanizaˈtsi̯oːn toːt]) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projects both in Nazi Germany and in occupied territories from France to the Soviet Union during World War II. It became notorious for using forced labour. From 1943 until 1945 during the late phase of the Third Reich, OT administered all constructions of concentration camps to supply forced labour to industry.

The history of the organisation can be divided into three phases. From 1933 to 1938, before the organisation existed, Fritz Todt's primary post was that of the General Inspector of German Roadways ( Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen) and his primary responsibility, the construction of the network. He was able to draw on "conscripted" (i.e., compulsory) labour, from within Germany, through the Reich Labour Service (Reichsarbeitsdienst, RAD).

The second period lasted from 1938, when the Organisation Todt group proper was created, until February 1942, when Todt died in an aeroplane crash. After the invasion of Poland, Todt was named the Minister for Armaments and Munitions in 1940 ( Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition), and the projects of the OT became almost exclusively military. The huge increase in the demand for labour created by the various military and paramilitary projects was satisfied by a series of expansions of the laws concerning compulsory service, which ultimately obligated all Germans to arbitrarily determined (i.e., effectively unlimited) compulsory labour for the state: Zwangsarbeit. From 1938 to 1940, more than 1.75 million Germans were conscripted into labour service. From 1940 to 1942, Organisation Todt began its reliance on Gastarbeitnehmer ('guest workers'), Militärinternierte ('military internees'), Zivilarbeiter ('civilian workers'), Ostarbeiter ('Eastern workers'), and Hilfswillige ('volunteer') POW workers.

The third period lasted from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945, when Albert Speer succeeded Todt in office and the OT was absorbed into the renamed and expanded Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production. Approximately 1.4 million labourers were in the service of the organisation. One per cent were Germans rejected from military service and 1.5% were concentration camp prisoners; the rest were prisoners of war and forced labourers from occupied countries. All were effectively treated as slaves and existed in the complete and arbitrary service of the totalitarian state. Many did not survive the work or the war.

Autobahn construction, 1933-1938

The autobahn concept had its beginnings in the efforts of a private consortium, the HaFraBa (Verein zur Vorbereitung der Autostraße Hansestädte-Frankfurt-Basel), initiated during 1926 for the purpose of building a high-speed highway between northern Germany and Basel, in Switzerland. While the idea did not originate with the Nazis, Adolf Hitler issued a decree establishing a Reichsautobahnen project for an entire network of highways, issued on 27 June 1933. He made it a vastly more ambitious public project and the responsibility was given to Fritz Todt as the newly named Inspector General of German Roadways.

By 1934, Todt had succeeded in elevating his office to near cabinet rank. Todt was an extremely capable administrator, and by 1938 the organisation had built more than 3,000 km (1,900 mi) of the roadway. The Autobahn project became one of the show pieces of the Nazi regime. In that period, Todt had also put together the administrative framework of what would become the Organisation Todt.

Initially, the Autobahn project relied on the open labour market as a source of workers. Germany was at this time still recovering from the effects of the Great Depression and there was no shortage of available labour. As the economy recovered and the supply of labour became a more serious issue, the OT was able to draw on conscripted (i.e., compulsory) workers, from within Germany through the Reich Labour Service (RAD) from 1935. As per the law of 26 June 1935, all male Germans between the ages of 18 and 25 were required to perform six months of state service. During this period, the work was compensated, at a rate slightly greater than that of unemployment assistance. The working conditions of the labour force would change drastically for the worse over the course of the following ten years.

Organisation "Todt", 1938-1942

The OT was not given an official name until Hitler bestowed one soon after coming to power during 1933. During 1938 Todt initiated the Organisation Todt proper as a consortium of the administrative offices, which Todt had established in the course of the Autobahn project, private companies as subcontractors and the primary source of technical engineering expertise, and the Labour Service as the source of manpower. He was appointed by Hitler as a plenipotentiary for labour for the second four-year plan, decreasing Göring's role. Investment in civil engineering work was reduced greatly.

Between 1939 and 1943, in contrast to the period from 1933 to 1938, fewer than 1,000 km (620 mi) of roadway were added to the Autobahn network. Emphasis was shifted to military efforts, the first major project being the Westwall (known in English as the Siegfried Line) built opposite the French Maginot Line and serving a similar purpose. Correspondingly, Todt himself was named Reich Minister of Armaments and Munitions in 1940. In 1941 Todt and his organisation were further charged with a project even larger, the construction of the Atlantic Wall, to be built on the coasts of occupied France, the occupied Netherlands, occupied Belgium, occupied Denmark, and occupied Norway. Included with this project were the fortification of the British Channel Islands, which were occupied by Nazi Germany from 30 June 1940 to 9 May 1945. The only camps on British soil operated by the OT were in the Channel Islands; two of these OT camps were given to the management of the SS from March 1943 converting them into the Alderney concentration camps.

Fritz Todt died in an aeroplane crash on 8 February 1942, soon after a meeting with Hitler in East Prussia. Todt had become convinced that the war on the eastern front could not be won and thought himself independent enough to say as much to Hitler. As a result, there has been some speculation that Todt's death was a covert assassination, but this has never been substantiated.

Under Albert Speer, 1942-1945

Todt was succeeded by Albert Speer as Minister of Armaments and Munitions, and manager of the Organisation Todt. Despite Todt's death, the OT continued to exist as an engineering organisation and was given more assignments. At the beginning of 1943, in addition to its continuing work on the Atlantic Wall, the organisation also undertook the construction of launch platforms in northern France for the V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket. During the summer of that year, German war efforts became increasingly defensive, and the organisation was directed to construct air-raid shelters, repair bombed buildings in German urban areas, and construct underground refineries and armaments factories, also termed Project Riese.

During 1943, the organisation was administratively incorporated into Albert Speer's Ministry of Armaments and War Production. Speer's concerns, in the context of an increasingly desperate Germany, in which all production had been severely affected by materials and manpower shortages and by Allied bombing, ranged over almost the whole of the German war-time economy. Speer managed to increase production significantly, at the cost of a vastly increased reliance on compulsory labour. This applied as well to the labour force of the OT.

The OT was a co-operative effort of the German government and the German construction industry; the former supplied the manpower and the material, the latter supplied the technical know-how in the form of individual contractors (OT-Firmen) with their staff and equipment. Up to about 1942, the construction companies dominated the OT, but after Speer became its director, the governments control of the organisation increased through standardised contracts and uniform pay scales. The volunteer contracts with the OT were later augmented with compulsory contracts, forcing construction companies to work for the OT. The construction company contracted became a self-contained unit within the OT, composed of technical and administrative staff with the skill and equipment necessary to execute the construction tasks assigned to it. Smaller companies were hence combined to form an Arbeitsgemeinschaft. The organisation of OT contractors was standardised through instructions issued by Wirtschaftsgruppe Bauindustrie, the German construction industry association. Among the OT contractors were also construction companies in occupied Europe. French, Danish, and Norwegian companies contracted with German companies as sub-contractors for OT building projects.

There were several kinds of contracts between OT and the OT contractors. The most important were:

Cost reimbursement contract, where the materiel and labour was supplied by the company. It allowed a commission of 4½% as the profit of the contractor.

Efficiency output contracts, where the materiel and labour was supplied by the OT. The profit was computed on the basis of the wages paid to the contractor's own staff. This was the dominant type of contract from late 1942.

Central organisation

During 1942 a centralised organisation of the OT was created when Speer became Reichsminister. A new HQ in Berlin, Amt OTZ, was created with Ministerialdirigent Franz Xaver Dorsch as chief of staff. It merged during 1944 with Amt Bau-OT to form Amt Bau-OT Zentrale directed by Speer, and with Dorsch as chief, representative of Speer as minister, and as general plenipotentiary for construction.

Amt Bau-OT Zentrale

Planning and construction

Supply

Manpower and social policy

Chief Engineer

Motor Vehicles

Administration and personnel

Front area personnel

Medical services

Communications

Central committee for construction

Administrative units

Area control staffs Army Group level

Einsatzgruppen

Construction

Technical

Supply

Administration and personnel

Front line personnel

Medical services

Schutzkommando

The Schutzkommando was the security guards of the OT, whose mission was to maintain discipline and order among the foreign workers, as well as guarding the OT construction camps, buildings, and other property against enemy activities and theft. During marches the SK guarded the foreign workers in order to prevent escapes; the ratio of one SK-man per twenty foreign workers was used normally.

Organisation

SK-Kameradschaft (squad of 8-12 men)

SK-Zug (platoon of 35-60 men)

SK-Bereitschaft (company of 120-150 men)

SK-Abteilung (battalion); one or more per Einsatzgruppe.

Auxiliary field gendarmery
Two special organisations existed within the SK:

Ordnungskommando, stationary auxiliaries to the Feldgendarmerie.

Streifendienst, mobile Auxiliaries to the Feldgendarmerie

The NSKK supplied the motor vehicle transportation for the OT until 1944. The role of the NSKK began in 1938, with the NSKK-Transportbrigade Todt in charge of motor transportation for the construction of the Siegfried Line. In 1939, NSKK-Transportbrigade Speer was organised and put in charge of the motor transportation for the air base constructions under Baustab Speer within the OT. Foreign drivers were, however, recruited into the Legion Speer, since they - as aliens - could not be members of the NSKK, which was a sub-organisation of the Nazi Party. In 1942, Transportbrigade Todt, Transportbrigade Speer, and Legion Speer, was subsumed into an umbrella organisation, Transportgruppe Todt, which in 1944 was made into an organisation independent of the NSKK, the Transportkorps Speer. Inland waterways transportation was since 1937 the scope of the Transportflotte Speer, the Speer river fleet.

Organisation Todt was notorious for using forced labour. Most of the so-called "volunteer" Soviet POW workers were assigned to the Organisation Todt. The history of the forced labour by Nazi Germany has three main phases:

Organisation Todt was preceded by the office of General Inspector of German Roadways (Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen), operating between 1933 and 1938, responsible primarily for the construction of the German network. The organisation was able to use "conscripted" (i.e. compulsory) labour from within Germany through the Reich Labour Service (RAD).

The period from 1938 until 1942, after Operation Barbarossa, when the Organisation Todt proper was initiated and utilised on the Eastern front. The huge increase in the demand for labour created by the various military and paramilitary projects was satisfied by a series of expansions of the laws on compulsory service, which ultimately obligated all Germans to arbitrarily determined (i.e. effectively unlimited) compulsory labour for the state: Zwangsarbeit. From 1938 to 1940, over 1.75 million Germans were conscripted into labour service. From 1940 to 1942, Organization Todt began its reliance on Gastarbeitnehmer (guest workers), Militärinternierte (military internees), civilian workers, Eastern workers, and "volunteer" POW workers.

The period from 1942 until the end of the war, with approximately 1.4 million labourers in the service of the Organisation Todt. Overall, 1% were Germans rejected from military service and 1.5% were concentration camp prisoners; the rest were prisoners of war and compulsory labourers from occupied countries. All were effectively treated as slaves and existed in the complete and arbitrary service of a totalitarian state. Many did not survive the work or the war. By the end of the war, the Reichsarbeitsdienst service for Germans had been reduced to six weeks of perfunctory military training and all available conscript German manpower diverted to military units and direct military support organisations. From the beginning of 1942 at the latest, their place was increasingly taken by prisoners of war and compulsory labourers from occupied countries. Foreign nationals and POWs were often, somewhat euphemistically, referred to as "foreign workers" (Fremdarbeiter). During 1943 and 1944, these were further augmented by concentration camp and other prisoners. Beginning in the autumn of 1944, between 10,000 and 20,000 half-Jews (Mischlinge) and persons related to Jews by marriage were recruited into special units.

All members of the Organisation Todt, even forced labourers, with the exception of Jews, were regarded as Wehrmachtsgefolge, that is combatants by the law of war. Of these, only the German personnel were regarded as being Wehrmacht Auxiliaries (i.e. belonging to the Wehrmachtgefolgschaft). The Frontarbeiter (front workers) were German, Volksdeutsche, or Nordic members of the OT. They swore an oath of fidelity to Hitler, wore uniforms, and were armed. The mean age of this group was about 45-50 years. An Einssatzarbeiter was a foreign worker that swore an oath of allegiance, wore a uniform, but were not normally armed. They could not include Czechs, Poles, Jews, or Communists. At the end of the war, their designation became OT-Legionäre. OT-Eigenes Personal was the organic personnel of the OT, as opposed to the OT-Firmenangehörige, employees of the contractors working for the OT.

At wars end, all Org Todt members received blanket amnesty from the Western Allies. Many went on to serve in the post-war British and U.S. Labor Services in occupied Germany before emigrating to Britain, Australia, Canada and the United States. The U.S. Labor Service was considered the forerunner of the new German army. The Organisation Todt itself was found not guilty of war crimes at Nuremberg, although its leader Albert Speer served 20 years in Spandau Prison after admitting his crimes against humanity.

Categories

OT-Eigenes Personal consisted of administrative, supervisory, and clerical staff, recruited through voluntary employment of German citizens, or through conscription of Germans and Volksdeutsche, as well as French citizens working for OT in France, and also included Frontarbeiter and Einsatzarbeiter.

OT-Firmenangehörige consisted of the German permanent employees of the contractors. as well as conscripts serving with the contracted companies. These employees received uniforms, were given a rank, and were supposed to be given a briefer period of military training. They also included Frontarbeiter and Einsatzarbeiter.

Foreign workers, who were either Hilfswillige, East European volunteers, or forced Labourers of many nationalities.

Classification of personnel according to nationality

Germans and Volksdeutsche. Frontarbeiter in OT uniform.

Nordics (English, Norwegians, Swedes, Finns, Dutch, Danes, Flemings, Swiss). Frontarbeiter in OT uniform if volunteers. Civilian clothing for local workers in Scandinavia. Hilfsarbeiter if conscripted.

Latins and Slovaks. Einsatzarbeiter or Hilfsarbeiter in local uniforms.

Baltics and Balkans. Hilfsarbeiter.

Russians, Poles, Czech. Hilfswilliger or Zwangsarbeiter.

Stateless German Speakers. "Auslander".Frontarbeiter in OT uniform.

During the construction of the Blood Road in Norway, more than 10,000 slave labourers from eastern Europe and some hundred German political prisoners were worked to death as part of the " vernichtung durch arbeit" ("annihilation by labour"). Several SS guards and local collaborators were sentenced to prison and death after the war in trials in Belgrade and Oslo. The head of the responsible OT unit for Scandinavia, Willi Henne, was extradited to the Soviet Union and served 10 years as a prisoner of war before returning to Hessen in West Germany.

While building the main military road for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, the so-called " Durchgangsstrasse IV" or Road of the SS from Lemberg to Donetsk, approximately 20,000 Jews were worked to death or shot dead in Nazi-occupied Poland and 25,000 in German-occupied Ukraine, as well approximately 50,000 Soviet prisoners of war. The road was issued by the SS that also rented slave labour and half-free labour to OT. OT subcontracted to German building companies and German engineers oversaw work of the more than 2000 km road.

The survivor Arnold Daghani published his memoirs in 1960 in German translation, accusing companies like Dohrmann and others to have assisted SS, SD and auxiliary troops in the deliberate killing of slave workers. A two-decade-long process against the main culprits with 1,500 witnesses interviewed resulted in not a single conviction, leading Daghani to call the process "merely a farce, a meaningless gesture." None of the OT personnel were sentenced to prison in the Nuremberg Trials or other postwar trials in Germany. Despite a British Secret Service report stating that "Supervisory assignments in OT were generally reserved for Old Party Fighters, Party members with influential connections, and more recently for older SS members in rapidly increasing numbers. [...] The result is that [...] in proportion it harbours at least in its permanent administrative staff, possibly more ardent Nazis than a regular formation of the Party.

Notes

Bibliography

Dick, Charles (2020). Builders of the Third Reich: The Organisation Todt and Nazi Forced Labour (Hardback). London: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781350182660.

Dick, Charles (December 2021), "Organisation Todt", History Today, 7 (12): 48-61

Herf, Jeffrey. "The Engineer as Ideologue: Reactionary Modernists in Weimar and Nazi Germany." Journal of Contemporary History (1984): 631-648.

Heyl, John D. "The Construction of the Westwall, 1938: An Exemplar for National Socialist Policymaking." Central European History (1981) 14#1 pp: 63-78. 0

Kroener, Bernhard R., Rolf-Dieter Muller, and Hans Umbreit, eds. Germany and the Second World War: Volume 5: Organization and Mobilization of the German Sphere of Power. Part I: Wartime Administration, Economy, and Manpower Resources, 1939-1941 (Oxford University Press, 2000)

Overy, Richard J. "Mobilization for Total War in Germany 1939-1941." English Historical Review (1988): 613-639.

Overy, Richard J. "Cars, roads, and economic recovery in Germany, 1932-8." The Economic History Review (1975) 28#3 pp: 466-483.

Seidler, Franz W. "Die Organisation Todt. Bauen für Staat und Wehrmacht 1938-1945." 301 pp.

Shand, James D. "The Reichsautobahn: Symbol for the Third Reich." Journal of Contemporary History (1984): 189-200.

Taylor, Blaine. Hitler's Engineers: Fritz Todt and Albert Speer-Master Builders of the Third Reich (Casemate Publishers, 2010)

Zeller, Thomas. Driving Germany: the landscape of the German autobahn, 1930-1970 (Berghahn Books, 2007)

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Organisation Todt (OT; [ʔɔʁɡanizaˈtsi̯oːn toːt]) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projects both in Nazi Germany and in occupied territories from France to the Soviet Union during World War II.

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The Channel Islands was the only region of the British Isles to be occupied by German Forces during the Second World War. The Occupation of Jersey began on 1 July 1940, and the Liberation took place on 9 May 1945. During a two year period from the autumn of 1941, approximately 6,000 foreign workers - men and women - were brought to the Island against their will by the Organisation Todt (OT), and made to take part in the construction of concrete fortifications.

The workers were brought to Jersey from numerous countries including Spain, France, Belgium, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Algeria, Morocco and citizens of the former USSR, especially Russians, Ukrainians and Belarus. They essentially fell into two categories: labourers from Western Europe and North Africa were conscripted or forced workers, but they were paid and free to move around the Island outside of working hours, subject to the curfew. Soviet citizens, with their Slavic ethnicity, were regarded as slave labour - they received no payment, had no freedom from captivity, were given the most nominal rations and very often treated with brutality.

This trail will focus principally upon the experience of the forced and slave labourers, but also include sites that were part of the Organisation Todt (OT) infrastructure.

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The Channel Islands was the only region of the British Isles to be occupied by German Forces during the Second World War. The Occupation of Jersey began on 1 July 1940, and the Liberation took place on 9 May 1945.

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Liberation Route Europe is an international commemoration route that connects important milestones from the Second World War.

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This powerpoint tells the story of the 21 people from Jersey who were deported and who never returned to the island.

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Information about the Jersey 21 - those who were deported and perished in prison camps and concentration camps

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Occupation Tapestry - Looking at the Tapestry

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Occupation Tapestry - Timeline Activity 1

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Occupation Tapestry - Timeline Activity 2

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Occupation Tapestry - Timeline Activity 3

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Liberation film in colour recorded by Dr. Evans

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Dr. ‘Morty’ Mortimer Evans filmed the arrival of the advance party of Liberation Force 135 at the New North Quay, St Helier Harbour, and the joyous reception that they received from hordes of Islanders on the morning of 9 May 1945.

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Liberation scenes around St Helier Harbour, May 1945.

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Scene 1) The SS Vega of the International Red Cross is seen berthed alongside the Albert Pier at the time of the Liberation.
Scene 2) The first of the liberators to arrive on 9 May were naval officers Surgeon-Lieutenant Ronald MacDonald and Sub-Lieutenant David Milln. 
Their small boat landed at the end of the Albert Pier, where they were met by hundreds of jubilant Islanders.
Scene 3) DUKW amphibious vehicles arrive at the Victoria Harbour on 12 May 1945, and make their way to the Weighbridge, St Helier.

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Occupation Stories: Canon Clifford Cohu's Pocket Watch

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Occupation Stories: Canon Clifford Cohu's Pocket Watch

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Discover the story behind some of the objects and archives in our collection

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Place of death Ravensbrück
By Gilly Carr
Louisa Mary Gould (née Le Druillenec) from St Ouen, Jersey, was born on 7 October 1891. She was already a widow at the time of the occupation and ran the Millais Stores at La Fontaine in the parish of St Ouen. Louisa had two sons; the eldest was in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve during the war, but in July 1941 she discovered, through a Red Cross message, that he had been killed in action in the Mediterranean four months earlier.

Around seventeen months later she was approached by Feodor 'Bill' Buryi, an escaped Russian forced labourer from Lager Immelmann forced labour camp in the parish of St Peter. He had nowhere else to go, and Louisa wanted to do something for 'another mother's son', as she put it, so she took him in. As time went on, Louisa became less careful about hiding traces of her guest, taking only the most basic of precautions against being found out. She also had a hidden radio and passed on the news to her customers. Only at the end of the occupation was it discovered that there were some people who didn't like the fact that Louisa was 'getting away with it' and informed upon her. In a Channel TV documentary, Betrayed to the Nazis, made by journalist Eric Blakeley in 2008, the names of the informers were revealed to the public, having already been placed in the public domain through files at The National Archives. Local people in St Ouen, and Louisa's sister Ivy Forster, strongly suspected two sisters living close to Louisa, Maud and Lily Vibert. A statement about them was drawn up by British security officers in 1945, and in it they reveal that the handwriting on the informers' letter was the same as that which signed the German document confirming receipt of the £100 reward money paid to the informers.

The document also reveals that when Louisa Gould learned that it was no longer safe to shelter the Russian (after the informers' letter was intercepted), 'Bill' went to stay with Ivy Forster and her husband for the next five days. When the Geheime Feldpolizei (GFP) searched Louisa's house, they found papers showing that he had been there, including labels of Christmas gifts showing that 'Bill' was the recipient, and Louisa and Ivy the givers. They also found a camera - a forbidden item. Although they did not find Louisa's hidden radio, which her maid, Alice Gavey, hid, the GFP returned the next day and found it then.

Louisa and Alice entered prison on 25 May 1944. One week later, the GFP searched the Forster house and Ivy was arrested. 'Bill' had meanwhile been entrusted into the care of Bob Le Sueur, who helped to place escaped forced labourers in safe houses. After another week, two of Louisa's close friends were arrested: a French house-keeper, Berthe Pitolet, and schoolteacher Dora Hacquoil. Both were regular visitors to Louisa's house, and Dora joined Louisa and 'Bill' every evening to listen to the news on the forbidden radio. Berthe used to stay with Louisa for several weeks at a time. Harold Le Druillenec, Louisa's brother, was also implicated in the affair, because although he did not shelter 'Bill', he visited Louisa in St Ouen (and was presumably seen visiting her) and listened to the radio with her.

Although the court found it difficult to verify the role of each of the accused, Dora Hacquoil's sentence was more lenient than the others because Louisa testified that she always arrived too late to listen in to the news. Her word was accepted and Dora was not deported. Instead she served her sentence in Jersey jail.

Louisa Gould was convicted on 22 June 1944. She received a sentence of two years for 'failing to surrender a wireless receiving apparatus, prohibited reception of wireless transmissions and abetting breach of the working peace and unauthorised removal'. Harold Le Druillenec received five months for listening to the radio. Sentences of between two and four and a half months were given to the Alice Gavey, Berthe Pitolet and Dora Hacquoil. Ivy Forster received a sentence of five and a half months, but she avoided deportation thanks to a doctor who wrote her an exemption on health grounds, switching medical samples to pretend that she had TB. Alice, Dora and Ivy served their sentences in Jersey prison and were not deported.

On 29 June 1944, Louisa Gould, Harold Le Druillenec and Berthe Pitolet were deported as part of a group of twenty Jersey political prisoners. The Germans were anticipating an Allied landing and wanted to get them out of the island while it was still possible. This fear caused the boat to return to Jersey, but it set off again in the early hours of 30 June.

The prison locations and dates available to us today are approximate and based upon the recollections of Harold Le Druillenec, and the women who travelled to Jersey after the occupation to tell the family about what happened to Louisa.

Louisa, Harold and Berthe were taken first to L'Espérance Prison in St Malo from 1 to 8 July 1944. They were then taken to Jacques-Cartier Prison, Rennes, Brittany, from 9 July to 3 August, although Harold was soon moved from there to Fort Hatry, Belfort in eastern France. Rennes prison was badly hit when the nearby railway station was bombed in the Allied advance. Berthe Pitolet took the opportunity to escape, but couldn't persuade Louisa to come with her. Berthe was not caught and stayed in the town until it was liberated by Americans less than a week later.

Louisa was then taken to Fort Hatry, Belfort from 17 to 31 August. Although the journey is said to have taken a fortnight, there are slight problems with these dates, as, by coincidence, Louisa's train carriage pulled into a railway siding at Belfort station alongside the carriage of her brother Harold. It was his birthday, dating this event to 5 August 1944, and they managed to exchange a few words; Louisa even managed to give him a tin of tobacco.

An existing document from the International Tracing Service shows that Louisa was on a transport to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, arriving on 4 September 1944, where she was given prisoner number 62871. What we know about Louisa from this point was brought back to the Channel Islands by three survivors of Ravensbrück who had befriended Louisa there.

The first was a Mrs Tanguy from Rennes who arrived in Jersey in 1946. She had worked in the camp with Louisa. In February 1945, by then an invalid, Louisa was selected and sent to the gas chamber. The second person to bring back news, in April 1946, was a Mme Ballard, also from France, and coincidentally the niece of a Jerseywoman. Mrs Ballard and Louisa had come to know each other on the 15-day transport from Rennes to Belfort. They were in Belfort and then Ravensbrück together. Mme Ballard testified that Louisa left a deep impression on other prisoners and set an example of courage. She gave English lessons and kept in good spirits in the camp.

Julia Barry, a Hungarian woman who had arrived in Guernsey just before the war, had been a policewoman in Ravensbrück and, when she was in Sweden recovering from her ordeal after her liberation, she told a British officer that Louisa Gould had been taken in February 1945 to the camp hospital 'suffering from swollen ankles and gassed shortly afterwards'; she said that she 'informed Mr Gould' while still in Sweden. Whether Julia Barry successfully delivered the message is unknown, but it seems unlikely given that the family first heard definitive news of Louisa's death in 1946 from Mrs Tanguy and Mme Ballard.

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Louisa Mary Gould née Le Druillenec - Frank Falla Archive

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Place of death Ravensbrück By Gilly Carr Louisa Mary Gould (née Le Druillenec) from St Ouen, Jersey, was born on 7 October 1891. She was already a widow at the time of the occupation and ran the Millais Stores at La Fontaine in the parish of St Ouen.

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Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) on 27 January is the day to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution and in the genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) is the charity which promotes and supports HMD in the UK.

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An Archivist will show your class real documents from the Occupation and take the class behind the scenes of the Archive to discover how the documents are stored and cared for.

Please enquire at education@jerseyheritage.org for dates that are available.

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A Heritage Education Officer can visit your class to talk about some stories from the German Occupation of Jersey. We will bring handling objects with us for the pupils to look at and handle.

To book a visit to your school please email education@jerseyheritage.org

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There are a number of other organisations that can support your teaching for the German Occupation of Jersey.

Jersey War Tunnels (seasonal opening)- hosts school visits. www.jerseywartunnels.com

Channel Islands Occupation Society manage lots of the German fortifications around the island: www.ciosjersey.org

Channel Islands Military Museum at St Ouen - contact damienhorn1@gmail.com

The CIOS and Channel Islands Military Museum can also be found on Facebook

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Monday 06 June 2022

The 6th of June will always be remembered for D-Day, the Allied invasion in Normandy... However, two years previously, it was another significant day all in the Channel Islands.

Although today we take listening to music and the news on radio for granted, it's hard to imagine life without it, but 80 years ago today, island residents were banned from doing so.

As soon as the German armed forces arrived in July 1940, they forbid the population from listening to any wireless transmitting stations, except German and German controlled stations. But they soon realised this was impossible to enforce, and the order was quickly withdrawn.

From quite early on, there was a strong feeling amongst the civilian population that the Germans were intending to confiscate all the radios on the island, which led to a notice being issued:
"Relying upon the loyal behaviour of the island population towards the German Forces, the German Military Authorities of their own resolve have not yet put into execution the confiscation of the wireless receiving sets which was announced. On the other side however, the granting of this privilege calls for a suitably loyal attitude on the part of the island population. Any misuse of this privilege or other disloyal attitude will result in the immediate withdrawal of this indulgence".
In mid-1941, radio receiver sets in civilian cars and lorries were banned, and households were only permitted one radio or radiogram. Any additional sets had to be handed over to the German Authorities at the Terminus Building. At the same time, after a spate of V-signs had been daubed in Rouge Bouillon, the residents of that area had their radio sets confiscated, but these were returned after a few weeks, once the culprits had been caught.
Pictured: Civilian radios stored in Springfield, photographed just after the Liberation.
During 1942, the BBC had been broadcasting on the World Service, that an Allied invasion of the continent was imminent and had asked its listeners in occupied Europe to help the Allied invaders. Although the islands were unlikely to be invaded, the German High Command could not take that chance, and on Saturday 6 th June 1942, the Field Kommandant, Colonel Knackfuss issued the following order:
"It has been decreed by a higher Command that all Wireless Sets belonging to the Civilian population on the Channel Islands are to be confiscated and retained in custody by the Feldkommandantur. Exceptions are made in the case of German Nationals, and the Nationals of States which are Allies of Germany. For the latter special licences must be procured, to be obtained at the Feldkommandantur. "The sets are to be delivered by 20th June 1942. In the case of battery sets, the batteries may be retained; but any other retainment of parts or alteration of the same, is forbidden. Every set must be supplied with an adhesive label, upon which the name and address of the owner are to be clearly inscribed. The collection of the sets will be undertaken by the Island Authorities, who will give precise instructions on the matter. The responsibility of delivery, however, will still rest with the owner, even if he has received no special instructions."
The order also stated that if any person who acts in contravention of the order or is obstructive, would be liable to punishment by imprisonment up to the period of six weeks and fined 30,000 Reichsmarks, which was an astonishing £3,000, over £161,000 in today's money.
CLICK TO ENLARGE: The notice issued on 6 June 1942.
Despite the Bailiffs of both islands objecting, and the German Authorities on the island questioning the order, it had come from the Highest German Command and could not be overturned.

A few days after the confiscation order was issued, another small notice appeared in the Evening Post which stated:
"In recent issues of the 'EP' an order appeared in which the confiscation of wireless sets was decreed by the Higher Command. In conversation with the Field Commandant, it was learned that the confiscation of the sets is not to be regarded as a punishment but as a measure taken for military reasons. The confiscated sets will be carefully kept in safe custody."
By Monday 22 nd June 1942, over 10,000 wireless sets had been handed in and were stored in various locations around the island. In St. Helier, Springfield, the Masonic Temple and Woolworths were used to store the sets, which were more secure than the St. Clements storage facility, which was frequently broken into. Radios, valves and components were stolen on numerous occasions, which led the German Authorities to write a letter of complaint to the Bailiff. Interestingly, six radio related shops, including Bel Royal Radio, stayed open after the confiscation order, with some of these shops conducting illegal radio repairs.

Those who kept their radios risked serious penalties, and many islanders took to making homemade crystal radios. The basic principles for constructing a crystal set were broadcast by Colonel Britton on the BBC World Service, and several local electronic engineers began to produce crystal sets for friends and family, which allowed people to listen to the news illegally. A crystal radio set is the most basic type of radio receiver, and benefits from not having any power source, with just a radio headphone or a telephone receiver which could be used to listen in. Its simple small construction meant it could be easily hidden in a biscuit tin or in a discreet compartment under the stairs. The penalties if caught having an illegal radio or crystal set were severe with large fines or imprisonment.
Pictured: A collection of locally made crystal radio sets.
It was not just the islanders who were no longer allowed to listen to the radio, as a consequence of RAF bombing raids on Cologne, the German troops stationed at Highlands College were forbidden to listen to their wireless sets from the end of May 1942.

The civilian confiscated wireless sets stayed in storage until they were finally handed back to the owners after the Occupation, although many islanders remember seeing radio sets appear in the days leading up to the Liberation.
Pictured top: A civilian radio used by the Germans with the inscription, 'It is forbidden to listen to foreign stations'.

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FOCUS: 80 years ago today, listening to the radio became illegal

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Although today we take listening to music and the news on radio for granted, it's hard to imagine life without it, but 80 years ago today, island residents were banned from doing so.

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Sir Winston Churchill's Speech, 8 May 1945

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Sir Winston Churchill's Speech, 8 May 1945

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Jersey Heritage was founded in 1981. We are an independent organisation that receives an annual grant from the States of Jersey to support our running costs. Admission...