More than 1,000 slave labourers may have died in Nazi camps on Alderney, review finds
The Odeon, a naval range-finding tower built by forced labourers in Alderney
More than 1,000 slave labourers likely died on British soil during World War II under Nazi rule, according to a review that found hundreds more deaths than previously recorded in historical documents, as reported by the Guardian newspaper.
The labourers on Alderney faced severe conditions including starvation, long hours, dangerous work, beatings, torture, inadequate housing, and sometimes execution. The review dismissed claims of thousands of deaths on the island and refuted comparisons to Auschwitz, establishing a revised death toll through an expert panel commissioned by Eric Pickles, the UK’s Holocaust envoy, trying to address conspiracy theories about Alderney's wartime history.
The review also found no evidence to back claims that thousands of people died on the island, and it dismissed assertions that Alderney was akin to a "mini-Auschwitz" as unsupported. According to the panel, it is now believed that the number of deaths on Alderney likely did not exceed 1,134 people, with a more probable range being between 641 and 1,027. During the German occupation, between 7,608 and 7,812 prisoners were sent to labour camps on Alderney, as stated in the 93-page report. Additionally, nearly 100 people died either in transit or on the island. The panel also investigated why German perpetrators were not prosecuted by Britain for war crimes committed on Alderney. It concluded that a war crimes investigation conducted immediately after the war was sincere in its intent. However, because most victims were Soviet citizens, the case was transferred to the Russians. In return, Germans involved in the murder of British servicemen at Stalag Luft III during the "great escape" were handed over to Britain. “The Soviet Union did not follow up the Alderney case and were thus responsible for the failure to bring the perpetrators to justice, causing much anger among members of the British government,” the report said. In 1981, the Observer revealed that senior Nazi officers who were responsible for the atrocities on Alderney were residing without consequences in Germany. Also read | AI chatbots allowing users to talk with Hitler, Nazi figures spark radicalisation fears
Nazi occupation and labour camps on Alderney
Alderney, a British crown dependency located approximately 70 miles off the English coast and 10 miles from the French coast, was occupied by German forces during World War II, along with Jersey, Guernsey, and Sark. The British government had demilitarised these islands, leaving them defenceless as German forces advanced. Most of Alderney’s 1,500 residents were evacuated to the UK, but a small number remained. The Nazis established four labour camps on the island, at least one of which later transitioned into a concentration camp. Prisoners from over 20 countries, including Russia, France, Spain and Poland were sent to Alderney. They were tasked with constructing Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall,” a network of concrete defences. Also read | Germany offers Hitler’s aide Joseph Goebbels’ villa for free. Know why Shortly after the islands were liberated in 1945, Captain Theodore Pantcheff, a British military investigator, arrived in Alderney. Witnesses recounted instances of prisoners being beaten, hanged, and shot, with bodies often disposed of in the sea. (With inputs from agencies)