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The Jews of the Channel islands
and the Rule of Law, 1940–1945 “Quite Contrary
to the Principles of British Justice”
David Fraser
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“A most welcome addition to the small but growing English-language library concerning the role of lawyers in the destruction of political liberalism in Europe in the period 1940–45.” The Modern Law Review
“Should be compulsory reading for all lawyers and historians, as well as the population at large.” Social and Legal Studies
From 1940 to 1945 the Channel Islands were the only part of Britain to fall under German Occupation. During that period, local courts continued to function and to apply Island law. Lawyers, judges and government officials in Jersey and Guernsey continued to swear oaths of allegiance to the British Crown. But German anti-Semitic laws and other measures were introduced and became part of the legal system. This book examines the ways in which officials co-operated in the implementation of legal measures against the Islands’ Jewish community and their property. Resident Jews were registered by Island authorities and lists of Jewish property were compiled and submitted to the Germans by local lawyers and bureaucrats. Jews were banned from employment and from appearing in public. Businesses were “Aryanized”. Wireless sets were confiscated because their owners were Jewish, and many residents were deported.
Based on a thorough review of Island archival material and previously unknown evidence, this book offers the first jurisprudential and legal analysis of the moral and legal failures of law and lawyers to combat the Holocaust and Nazi legality on British soil.
