Plaque commemorating notorious fascist on Isle of Man removed

A plaque on the Isle of Man commemorating a Nazi sympathiser has been removed.

Following campaigning action by the Rt Hon Lord Eric Pickles, (the UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues), the Association of Jewish Refugees, Insiders/Outsiders, (an arts festival celebrating the contribution of refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe to British culture) Jewish Renaissance magazine and the Manx Museum, Peel Town Commissioners took down the commemoration to Edouard Louage.

Louage was a known fascist and Nazi sympathiser who was deported to the Isle of Man as part of the government’s policy of internment in the early 1940s.

The plaque, which had been located on Peel Headland, was removed this week, and was returned to Louage’s grandson in Belgium at his own expense.

Lord Pickles said: “Removing this offensive dedication is the right thing to do. We should not be honouring those who supported a murderous regime. Through the government’s disastrous policy of internment, pro-Nazis and Jewish refugees who fled Nazism were forced to live side-by-side.

Remembering this history, in all its complexity, is critical to understanding the past and how the impact of the Holocaust was felt in our country. I pay tribute to all those who supported the refugees during their time on the Isle of Man, all those involved in commemorating this history, including the Association of Jewish Refugees for mounting a plaque remembering Internment.”