Channel Isles to remember Nazi victims with Stolpersteine ‘stumbling stones’
Guernsey and Jersey to install commemorative brass plaques at last known addresses of those persecuted during war
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
An art project to commemorate those who suffered at the hands of the Nazis takes place in Guernsey and Jersey next week.
The German artist Gunter Demnig, who originated the Stolpersteine, or “stumbling stones” initiative in 1992, will arrive in Guernsey for the installation of 15 engraved brass cubes, sunk into the pavement at the last known addresses of those persecuted in the Channel Islands. The islands were the only part of British territory occupied by the Nazis during the war.
Twenty more Stolpersteine will be laid in Jersey. To date, the only Stolpersteine in Britain is the stone in London’s Golden Square, in Soho, in the name of Ada van Dantzig, an art restorer who was arrested in 1943 in France, and murdered in Auschwitz in that same year. Her stone, installed in 2022, is placed at the last address in which she worked.
Around 100,000 Stolpersteine can now be found in more than 30 European cities. Each cube, sunk so that it is flush with the surrounding pavement, measures just 10 centimetres square. Gunter Demnig says: “Rather than stumbling over them with your feet, you stumble with your head and your heart”.
Guernsey Museum said that its Stolpersteine would remember 11 people who died, and four who survived Nazi persecution.
Head of heritage services Helen Glencross said Guernsey Museums was honoured to be part of the project. She said: “Logistically, it has been challenging and I am very grateful to all those who have assisted.
“I hope that the Stolpersteine will raise awareness with islanders and visitors about those who were victims and survivors of Nazism during the Second World War.”
Where possible, family members of those being commemorated have been contacted to witness the installation of the Stolpersteine, which will be laid in a number of sites across the islands. But researchers had not been successful in tracking down the families of three Jewish women killed in Auschwitz. Ms Glencross said: “If anyone has any contact with their family members then we would love to hear from you.”
The project is being led by Occupation historian Dr Gilly Carr of the University of Cambridge, Ms Glencross and Chris Addy from Jersey Heritage. Dr Carr said: “I’m thrilled to be able to bring Gunter Demnig to the Channel Islands, so that victims of Nazism here can be honoured as they are elsewhere on the continent. Stolpersteine are such an effective and moving form of memorial, placed outside the last address of those who were deported. I am proud to be involved in doing this for those who suffered so much during the Occupation.”
The Guernsey stones will commemorate the so-called Guernsey Eight, who died in Nazi prisons and camps, as well as three Jewish women deported from Guernsey who were murdered in Auschwitz. These 11 were killed or died because of their treatment in camps and prisons.
A further four Guernsey stones will remember survivor Frank Falla, a member of GUNS (Guernsey Underground News Service), who fought for those deported for their opposition to the Germans; Vienna-born Elisabet Duquemin, a Jewish woman who came to Guernsey in 1937 and married Henry Duquemin, but was later deported to Compiègne and Biberach internment camps as a British Jew; and Frank Tuck and Kingston Bailey, two Guernsey policemen who were deported to Nazi labour and concentration camps, but survived with life-altering injuries and PTSD.
The Jersey stones will remember, in all but two instances, survivors. A separate Lighthouse Memorial on Jersey’s New North Quay commemorates the 21 Jersey women and men who perished in Nazi prisons and camps.
Chris Addy said: “The Jersey stones will raise awareness of islanders who were persecuted for their Jewish origins or went into hiding for that reason; those convicted of acts of resistance, defiance or attempted escape; individuals sent to Alderney as conscripted labourers; or interned in Germany for being British born.”
He added: “The 20 Stolpersteine in Jersey will provide a moving commemoration for survivors of the Occupation, and we hope there might be an opportunity in the future to add further stones to remember people who lived through these difficult years.”
In all, says Dr Carr, three non-British Jewish women were deported from the Channel Islands to France and, from there to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Two Jewish women who gained British nationality upon marriage, and the daughter and non-Jewish husband of one of these women, were deported to civilian internment camps in Germany, which they survived. One Jewish Hungarian woman was deported to Ravensbrück concentration camp for black market offences, and always denied her heritage. She, too, survived. One non-British (probably) Jewish woman denied her heritage and was not deported.
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