Researchers have investigated the horror that occurred at the site of the only Nazi immersion camp on British territory .
The Channel Islands , an archipelago off the northern coast of France , were the only British land that was successfully occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War . It ’s little bang that one of these restrained islands , Alderney , became home to several labor ingroup and two density camp , one of which was called Sylt or Lager Sylt . Although the UK government carried out an prescribed post - war probe into the horrors that go on here , many mistrust the contents were watered down in a report release to the world in an attempt to quash rumor about a “ density inner circle on British dirt . ”
To unearth the truth , archaeologists from Staffordshire University in the UK have of late used an arsenal of non - invasive methods to examine the site and experiences of the the great unwashed imprisoned here . report in the journalAntiquity , the squad used geophysical sight and LiDAR , as well as declassified aerial reconnaissance photos and written historic accounts , to create a detailed map of Sylt over the class of the Second World War .
Official software documentation by the Nazi ’s Schutzstaffel ( SS ) propose 103 hoi polloi died during the Nazi - occupation of Alderney . However , an assessment of other sources suggests at least 700 people perished here , with many more anxious while move around to or from the island .
The new enquiry suggests the refugee camp underwent a rapid expansion in size of it and capability over its life-time . The island was ab initio used by Nazi Germany to put up a few hundred Eastern European worker and prisoner , but it fell under the power of SS in 1943 , promptly transform the website into two concentration camp , include Sylt .
The control of the SS and their enlargement of the bivouac made the conditions all the more grueling . The research shows that barrack became cramp , with less than 1.5 square feet ( 16 square feet ) of space for each somebody , while the gutter engine block was described as " every bit undersized and basic . " This prison house - like overcrowding and poor hygiene are thought to have contribute to an irruption of typhus , an infectious disease spread by louse , flea , and touch , which may have killed up to 200 people .
The inquiry was confirmed using historical testimony from former Sylt captive Wilhelm Wernegau , cited by the researchers , who write : “ In my barrack , there were around one hundred and fifty man , or perhaps a few more . There were approximately this many in every hut … We had straw blankets and throughout the prison term on Alderney , we suffered terribly from louse . ”
The study also highlights a disparity between the type of buildings at the camps . The prisoner facilities were cramped and ill built , sometimes even constructed out of woodwind , but the stable for the SS sentry go ’s horses were well work up with stout cornerstone . One particularly puzzling feature was an electric - lit burrow travel from inside a guard ’s bathing machine to outside the camp ’s rampart ( see above ) . It ’s undecipherable what purpose the tunnel suffice , although it ’s distrust it was used to traffick cleaning lady into the encampment ’s brothel .
The story of Alderney remain a sensitivesubject . While some local anaesthetic trust to inhume their island ’s ghosts , others hope to memorialize those who have here . As for this novel project , the investigator hope their work will rear sentience of this long - forgotten site and underscore its importance in the populace ’s collective history .
“ This work has shed new lighter on the German business of Alderney and , crucially , the experiences of the one thousand of forced and hard worker laborers who were sent there , ” Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls , lead author and professor of Conflict Archaeology and Genocide Investigation at Staffordshire University in the UK , said in an email statement .
“ Historical , forensic and archaeological approach shot have finally pop the question the opening to uncover young grounds and give a voice to those who hurt and died on Alderney so many geezerhood ago , ” she add together .
