We are accustomed to the fact that when the phrase “museum of occupation” is mentioned, we are talking about one of the countries of the former CMEA or the USSR, and the “occupation” can only be Soviet. However, there are also other museums of the occupation. In particular, there are such establishments on the Channel Islands - the only territory under the rule of Her Majesty, apart from the numerous British colonies, where the conqueror's boot set foot in World War II. These are the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, which are located off the coast of France.
According to the peculiar division of the British state, although these pieces of land are under the sovereignty of London, they are neither the territory of Great Britain itself, nor any of its colonies. Together with the Isle of Man, they constitute the so-called "crown lands". The islands, despite their small (less than two hundred square kilometers) area, already had a population of more than one hundred thousand people.
As you know, Nazi Germany never made it to the main British Isles. Her cruisers and battleships were later sunk in the Battle of the Atlantic, and the only aircraft carrier went to the Soviet Union as a trophy. But in 1940, the outcome of the war was far from obvious. The occupation of Jersey and Guernsey was considered a prelude to the crossing of the English Channel, which seemed to take place literally next week.
The German occupation regime here did not at all resemble the one that operated on the territory of the USSR. Since the British were considered a kindred people to the Germans, the attitude towards them was appropriate. Both the local administration and the population actively cooperated with the occupiers. But here's what's interesting: after the return of the islands, no one was convicted of collaboration. All this is in stark contrast to other European countries, from Holland to Norway, where trials and demonstrative executions were carried out on traitors.
The museum has a different task - it emphasizes in every possible way how hard life was for the British under the rule of Berlin. Without any special clarifications, however, in what exactly this was expressed. Apparently, we are talking about some "moral suffering" and the lack of fresh British newspapers.
The islands were under German control from June 30, 1940 to May 9, 1945. During this time, the German troops managed to build a complex of structures there. For example, concentration camps on Alderney Island, where Soviet citizens (both prisoners of war and civilians) were held, or an underground hospital in Jersey. Also on the islands, the defenses of the famous Atlantic Wall are still visible. There are a lot of them.
Since there was no armed resistance on the islands, now the British talk about "passive resistance": poor work for the occupiers, singing hymns, and so on. Some tried to attack the invaders with their bare hands - on the islands, Wehrmacht soldiers and officers rarely carried weapons with them.
Actually, there are several museums of the occupation on the islands, if we take even scattered expositions. And there are no number of commemorative plaques. Some of them also mention Soviet citizens who were not here of their own free will.
In all fairness, it must be said that almost three dozen islanders nevertheless went to German concentration camps even for non-violent methods of resistance: anti-German speeches, fights with soldiers, possession of weapons, etc. None of them survived to be liberated.
After the allies landed in Normandy, the islands were immediately blocked, they did not liberate them.“Let it rot,” Churchill said about the German garrison. He "rotted" there right up to May 1945.
In general, the history of this occupation is little known even in Great Britain itself. This is understandable: the massive cooperation of the administration and local residents with the conquerors did not really fit the myth of the irreconcilable nature of the battle for Britain. If Hitler had taken the territory of the British Isles themselves, it is not known how the population would have behaved there.
In 2004-2005, a series about the events of those years was shown, which sinned with a mass of inaccuracies, mainly because it was filmed on the Isle of Man, which has nothing to do with the events described above.
