Review findings ‘give Alderney sense of relief’
A sense of relief and sadness was brought to Alderney as details of the Lord Pickles Alderney Expert Review were finally unveiled yesterday.
After months of waiting and speculation, it was confirmed that death numbers were much lower than some predictions, with a likely range of between 641 and 1,027 deaths.
Of these, just four were of Jews.
States of Alderney President William Tate was present at the launch of the findings in London yesterday and said that the research had provided clarity and would help the island move forward.
‘It’s relief, because some of the numbers that have been suggested for the people who lost their lives have been shown to have no evidential basis,’ he said.
‘But it’s also a great sadness, because we now know that in fact, more people perished on our island than we knew before, but by the same token, it also now allows us to recognise their sacrifices.’
Death figures calculated after Alderney was liberated by the British originally suggested that 389 people died as a result of this ill-treatment, but some more recent estimates had suggested it could be up to 40,000.
The Alderney Expert Review Panel is confident that the number of deaths in Alderney is unlikely to have exceeded 1,134, with a more likely range of between 641 and 1,027.
‘Evidence is key, and here we have the best evidence considered by the best experts in their field, and if we don’t rely on those conclusion, then I think that says more about us than it does about them,’ said Mr Tate.
‘As a community, now we have clarity and we can now say with confidence that this is what happened.
‘That is, in a way, a catharsis, because after so long, these questions have been answered and it’s thanks to Lord Pickles and his team that we now have that confidence.’
The States of Alderney has begun installing information plaques at sites around the island, and will continue honouring and recognising the events that took place.
Lord Pickles was pleased to have the endorsement of the States of Alderney President, as well as a warm reception from the Jewish community.
‘I’ve always regarded the description of Alderney as a “mini Auschwitz’”as deeply insulting to the memory of those who died,’ he said.
‘Anyone who said this was a “mini Auschwitz” does not understand what Auschwitz is, cannot and does not understand the sheer weight or the sheer vileness of the Nazi killing machine.
‘It’s pretty clear what happened about the number that were killed, and it was about slave labour and some of the more lurid stories we can now discount. But what happened on Alderney was dreadful, sadism, summary executions, arbitrary executions, people had a miserable time there.’
Lord Pickles praised islanders for enabling the island to recover as one of the most attractive holiday destinations on this side of Europe.
Dr Gilly Carr hopes to continue with the research on Alderney during the Occupation.
‘I feel about this, as I have done with my previous works on victims of Nazism, that each person you find is like saving somebody and acknowledging them,’ she said.
‘I think I will extend the length of my paper and submit it to an academic journal.
'I’ve got enough material, but I have the testimonies of those who were there at Liberation to talk about what they witnessed.
‘I would love if more members of the public came forward and shared their or their relative's stories.’
