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

Abstract

In this paper we propose the concept of taboo heritage as a way to describe a legacy of war so sensitive that it never undergoes heritage creation. Attempts at creation, such as heritage listing, renovation or excavation, are blocked by local authorities. We also examine the transition from taboo heritage to sensitive heritage, the next step along the 'heritage continuum', which we propose can only occur through the combined efforts of the passage of time, the role of activists and official authorisation. We take as our case study two of the British Channel Islands of Jersey and Alderney, occupied by German forces from 1940 to 1945. Labour camps were built in both islands, where the dead were also buried locally. We explore how the existing legacy of these events is still taboo heritage in Alderney, but has achieved partial progress in the transition to sensitive heritage in Jersey.

Revolution and counter-revolution; or why it is difficult to have a heritage of communism and what can we do about it

“…As a result of this situation, the response of the state in terms of creation of new heritage of the communist past, even if portraying the AHD previously described, has been timid at best. As a matter of fact, the post-revolutionary moment translated into an almost complete self-censorship on this topic, which became a kind of taboo heritage (Carr and Colls 2016).…”

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

“…Probable and speculative identities have been suggested for three slave labourers, while several other names have been highlighted for future research and ongoing comparison with any new documentary evidence that may emerge. In missing persons cases and conflict scenarios alike, the value for family members and society as a whole of identifying what victims experienced and where this occurred has been widely acknowledged (Holmes, 2016;Sturdy Colls, 2016). This is particularly true in long-term missing persons cases, where individuals are thought or known to be deceased, and where finding a grave may not always be possible (Sturdy Colls, 2015).…”

“…To facilitate the large-scale construction of fortifications, thousands of workers were sent to Alderney. While some worked for Organisation Todt (OT, a German civil and military engineering group) and were paid for their services, the majority were forced and slave labourers transported from concentration and labour camps throughout Europe (Pantcheff, 1981; Carr & Sturdy Colls, 2016). Between 1941 and 1945, around 6000 labourers were sent to the island (numbers reviewed in Sturdy Colls & Colls, forthcoming).…”

The Investigation of Historic Missing Persons Cases: Genocide and ‘Conflict Time’ Human Rights Abuses

“…In the decades after the Second World War, several searches for mass graves of victims of Nazi and Soviet terror were initiated across Europe because of repeated calls by relatives to find the graves of their loved ones (Sturdy Colls 2015;Rosensaft 1979;Mant 1950). Likewise, in Bosnia-Herzogovina, families continue to be activists in order to ensure an ongoing commitment to searches and exhumations, although many argue that:…”