Contact Admin. Deportations from the German-occupied Channel Islands refers to a specific wave of deportations by Nazi Germany of British citizens who were residents of the Channel Islands. The stated reason was retaliation for internment of German citizens in Persia by the British Government. On direct instructions from Adolf Hitler , and in breach of both International Law and the terms of surrender signed in July , Nazi German forces deported and interned 2, Channel Island civilian residents who had committed no crimes.
There were other deportations of British citizens from the Channel Islands, including deportations of Jews residing in those islands. The Channel islands , comprising the Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey , which also comprised Alderney and Sark , fell under German control on 30 June Prior to this, the lightning Blitzkrieg resulting in the fall of France gave the British government and the island governments just enough time to evacuate those who were willing to leave the islands immediately.
Approximately 25, left, while 66, remained. There were 41, left in Jersey, 24, in Guernsey and in Sark, with just 18 in Alderney. The British Government had decided on 15 June to demilitarise and abandon the Channel Islands, so all military personnel, weapons and equipment had been taken to England. Through the second half of and into , the islanders gradually settled into a "working relationship with the German occupiers". A small number of people, who had access to boats, decided to flee the islands, some dying in the attempt.
In June Persia, current day Iran, was a neutral country with Germany as its largest trade partner; the Soviet Union was on its northern border. Britain had recently encamped in Iraq to the west, following an anti-British coup by Nazi sympathisers. On 22 June, Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of Soviet territory started. Persia eventually agreed to the demand, but by 25 August, Anglo-Soviet forces invaded the country.
In September, the German legation and women and children from the expat community were permitted to travel to Europe, as were the other Axis legations. A few went into Soviet hands and were shipped to Siberia; the British then separated out Jewish Germans who could remain in Persia.
