‘You are requested to ascertain the nationality of Jews residing in Guernsey’: analysing an artefact of collaboration from the Channel Island of Guernsey, 1933–1940

Abstract

This paper presents the first ever analysis of the 1930s logbooks of the aliens in the Channel Island of Guernsey; logbooks termed here as ‘objects of collaboration’ because of the role they played in the persecution and deportation of the island’s Jews. When placed in context, they highlight both the complicity of the local authorities and show how Britain failed Jewish refugees. This paper also suggests why Jews decided to register as such when they had no identifying paperwork. Close inspection of the logbooks facilitates new suggestions regarding the differential treatment of categories of Jews by the German occupying authorities.