Crimes were detailed in report compiled by intelligence officer Captain Theodore Pantcheff in 1945. A complete copy of the report was being held in the Russian archives and has only just come to light. The largest group sent to concentration camps on Alderney were Russian, Polish and Ukrainian prisoners. French Jews and German and Spanish political prisoners were also imprisoned on the island. The Channel Islands were occupied by the Nazis after Britain deemed them not important enough to defend. A shocking report reveals how hundreds of Jews and political prisoners were starved or beaten to death by the Nazis’ during their occupation of the Channel Islands in the Second World War. The memo, titled Report on Atrocities Committed in Alderney, 1942-1945, was written by intelligence officer Captain Theodore Pantcheff for the British Government after the island was liberated in 1945 following Nazi Germany’s defeat. It has come to light after the Sunday Times obtained a rare copy which was being held in the Russian archives. Pantcheff obtained the testimonies of 3,000 witnesses, including former prisoners of war, German soldiers and civilians. The officer uncovered evidence of mass graves as well as horrific stories of how SS troops who were guarding inmates were given bonuses of extra leave for ‘every five dead prisoners’. The largest group sent to the two concentration camps set up on the island – Lager Sylt and Lager Norderney – were Russian, Polish and Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians, along with French Jews and German and Spanish political prisoners. In total, at least 700 people died at the labour and concentration camps on Alderney, and more died travelling to or from them. (…) Despite the horrors detailed in the report, only a small number of Germans were ever punished for their crimes in the Channel Islands. Pantcheff’s report included a list of Nazis’ names and the crimes they had been accused of, but the UK did not bring prosecutions. Whilst the contents of the report are now mostly available in the National Archives, they are spread across a number of individual documents. It is rumoured that a full version of the report held by the British Government was thrown away years ago to create storage space. The Plantcheff report gives further detail to what was previously known about war crimes committed by the Nazis in the Channel Islands.
By <a href=”//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Apeto” title=”User:Apeto”>Andree Stephan</a> – <span class=”int-own-work” lang=”en”>Own work</span>, CC BY 3.0, Link