At the start of World War II, the Channel Islands were occupied by the Nazis. The objective was for the islands to be part of the “Atlantic wall”, for which they designed defences and fortifications that they built with Soviet prisoners, French Jews and from other nationalities, and Spanish republicans. Many of them died in the Alderney concentration camps, and some stayed on to live in the Channel Islands after liberation.
There is no consensus on the number of Spaniards and other nationalities who passed through Alderney. Some sources speak of about 1,500 republicans. John Dalmau in his biography “Slave worker in the Channel Islands”, raises the figure to 4,000, of whom only 59 would have survived.
A tribute ceremony is held every year on May 9th at the Westmount Memorial in Jersey, organized by Gary Font, son of José Font, one of the Republicans who settled in Jersey at the conclusion of the war.
Coinciding with an official to the Channel Islands, the Spanish Ambassador laid wreaths at the Westmount Memorial in Jersey and on the plaque located at White Rock in Guernsey. The Head of the Spanish legation conveyed the memory and tribute of the Government, and expressed the intention of ensuring Spanish representation in the Victory Day celebrations on May the 9th, to honour the memory of the republicans who died and suffered slavery by the Nazis.