Moves to make Lager Sylt a protected site
THE site of a former Nazi concentration camp in Alderney will be added to the list of protected historic sites if a move being made by the island’s Building and Development Control Committee is approved by the Alderney States.
Lager Sylt was one of only two concentration camps on British soil during the Second World War and, if successful, the BDCC will have it designation as a conservation area.
‘It is a site of great suffering for many, and part of Alderney’s history which mustn’t be allowed to be forgotten,’ said committee chairman Kevin Gentle.
While the site, near Alderney Airport, is a protected zone, it does not have the full legal protection of the island’s official list of historic buildings, ancient monuments and conservation areas.
Mr Gentle told the recent meeting of the island’s States that a decision to add the site to the official list was not pursued after being made in 2017 ‘for unknown reasons’.
Consultation on the move has begun with landowners following BDCC’s decision to add Lager Sylt at its meeting earlier this month.
Historian Gilly Carr, Channel Island representative to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, said the group would be holding a series of meetings with States members and islanders to discuss the island’s wartime sites.
‘We look forward to working with them to ensure that all sites are appropriately safeguarded,’ she said.
The full legal protection of Lager Sylt will apply to all parts of the ruins, including gateposts, sentry posts, some foundations and a small tunnel which led from the camp commandant’s house to the inside of the camp.
Mr Gentle told fellow States member Alex Snowdon that he hoped it and other sites could be named Sites of Special Scientific Interest and this would provide protection not only for wildlife habitats but also for any archaeological aspects and things underground.
He said that the island was ‘in the world’s spotlight’.
‘Everything we do will be scrutinised so we must ensure that every step that we take here is correct but, more importantly, sensitive.
‘We have to protect our heritage.’
The island had two concentration camps, the other being Lager Norderney.
Its Second World War history has often made national headlines, including recently when a Conservative MP called for files to be revealed regarding mass graves that were created on Longis Common during the Occupation.
Mr Gentle told the States that he has sought civil service advice on whether proposed work on the airport runway would have any impact on Lager Sylt and was told there would be none.
However, an Environmental Impact Assessment would clarify this.
n Lager Sylt will be the eighth conservation area in the island. The others are: St Anne including Braye Road; the Braye and Grosnez Peninsula; part of the valley known as Ladysmith; Longis Common and the surrounding area; Strangers’ Cemetery (Longis Road); Fort Quesnard Battery; and Gauvain’s Row, Newtown.
