Reconstructing a Painful Past: A Non-Invasive Approach to Reconstructing Lager Norderney in Alderney, the Channel Islands

Taboo and sensitive heritage: labour camps, burials and the role of activism in the Channel Islands

“…Likewise, on-site activities in the form of educational visits can ensure that knowledge concerning taboo and sensitive heritage is not lost. Different types of alternative approaches to sensitive heritage commemoration and education have been discussed elsewhere (Sturdy Colls and Colls 2014;Sturdy Colls 2015a, 2015b. Alternative approaches by activists might also act as a catalyst for transitions from taboo to sensitive heritage on the basis that they may force discussions concerning those aspects of the past that have previously been ignored.…”

Proof of Life: Mark-Making Practices on the Island of Alderney

“…This literature ranges from an account by one of the leading post-liberation British investigators on Alderney (Pantcheff, 1981) to accounts by or about survivors (Packe & Dreyfus, 1990; Bonnard, 2013), and rather more sensationalist accounts that have sought to liken the events in Alderney to those that took place at death camps in Europe (Steckoll, 1982; Freeman-Keel, 1995). Others have followed a rather more academic approach by reviewing the available documents and/or undertaking archaeological research connected to the labourers' experiences and perpetrators’ actions (Sanders, 2005; Carr, 2010; Sturdy Colls, 2012; Sturdy Colls & Colls, 2014, and forthcoming). In particular, the Alderney Archaeology and Heritage Project has sought to locate and document the surviving fortifications, camps, and other sites connected to the occupation to provide new information about the people who were sent to the island and the role that architecture played in their daily lives (Sturdy Colls, 2012, 2015; Sturdy Colls & Colls, 2014, and forthcoming).…”

“…In 2010, an archaeological project was launched, its aim being to locate and record sites connected to the German occupation in Alderney, especially sites connected to forced and slave labour. The project succeeded in observing an abundance of mark-making practices (results outlined in Sturdy Colls, 2012, 2015, 2017; Sturdy Colls & Colls, 2014, and forthcoming). From 2014 to 2017, a survey was undertaken to record this complex range of engravings, marks, drawings, paintings, and impressions.…”

“…Existing buildings, such as evacuated houses and military forts, were also taken over for the purposes of internment and to house the German garrison. The appalling living and working conditions, beatings, torture, and ill-treatment resulted in the deaths of an unknown number of workers (most of whom were housed in Sylt, Norderney, and Helgoland camps); official records indicate that around 400 people died, but witness testimonies and archaeological evidence suggest this number should be around 700 (Bunting, 1995; Sturdy Colls & Colls, 2014, and forthcoming). In the absence of source material and detailed investigations, many of the individuals sent to Alderney remain anonymous and their experiences poorly documented.…”

Uncovering a Painful Past: Archaeology and the Holocaust

“…Presenting individual or groups of objects alongside information about their owners, and discussing landscapes in terms of what their architecture and layout would have meant for people interred there offer just two other possibilities. In a digital arena, this is perhaps even easier to do (Sturdy Colls and Colls, 2014). The creation of digital heritage tools that include the integration of maps, plans, aerial photographs, field survey data and photographs alongside witness testimonies and other documentary evidence has proven effective as part of both the Treblinka and Staro Sajmište projects outlined above.…”