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The story of Jersey’s occupation by the
Nazis is unique not only in Masonic terms,
but in the history of World War II, because
it took place on the only part of British
territory occupied by German forces during
that conflict.
It would have been impossible to attempt
to defend the Islands, in the case of Jersey
just 12 miles from the west coast of France,
without incurring an unacceptable level of
civilian casualties.
It was therefore announced that, as the
Islands might be occupied, arrangements
would be made to evacuate those who
wished to leave. It was an agonising decision,
but for Freemasons (and there were over a
thousand each in Jersey and Guernsey)
especially so, knowing of the persecution of
German Freemasons under Hitler.
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But Freemasons would have been even
more apprehensive had they known of the
Führer’s order in September 1939 for the
compilation of a list of British subjects and
European exiles, the Sonderfahndungsliste GB
(Special Search List GB) – known as the
Black Book – who were to be taken into
what was euphemistically termed ‘protective
custody’ in the event of a successful invasion
of Great Britain.
This was brought home to me vividly
recently when, through the good offices
of Roy Townsend, I was able to obtain
a copy of the Last Will and Testament
of the Provincial Grand Master (PGM)
of Jersey in those days, Charles Edward
Malet de Carteret.
Significantly, the will was signed on 1
July 1940, the day enemy forces landed in
Jersey. So far as we are able to gather, he had
never previously made a will. The PGM
must have wondered what might have been
in store for him and other members of the
Craft still in the Islands.
But the atmosphere was much more
relaxed than had been expected, mainly
because the German troops were in high
spirits and friendly, as they were convinced
that the occupation of Great Britain was but
a few days away. And while some restrictions
were harsh, for instance remaining Jewish
shops had to display notices to this effect,
proclamations issued by the occupying
authorities were conciliatory if not, in
some respects, almost bizarre.
For instance, one said that ‘prayers could
be said for the British Royal Family and the
welfare of the British Empire’. Likewise
‘while the National Anthem was not to be
sung without permission, it could be listened
to on the radio’. However, for Freemasons
the future must have seemed uncertain.
The PGM was anxious that nothing was
done to make life more difficult for his
members, and was informed by the German
military authorities that, provided no further
meetings were held and the Masonic temple
locked up, nothing would be done to
interfere with the building or its contents.
Relying on this, and the proclamation
issued on the first day of the Occupation
which stated that ‘in the event of peaceful
surrender the lives, property and liberty of
peaceful inhabitants is solemnly guaranteed’,
the PGM readily complied. Furthermore,
he instructed that all the beautiful furniture
and fittings in the temple and the thousands
of priceless and irreplaceable items in
the splendid library and museum should
remain in situ.
Unfortunately for Freemasons, the
solemn undertaking in the proclamation
proved untenable, because soon after the
establishment of the regular German troops
more sinister forces, bent on pursuing the
Nazi vendetta against Freemasonry, were
despatched to Jersey.
The first indication that something was
afoot which did not augur well was the
unannounced arrival at the Masonic temple
on 19 November 1940 of the Secret Field
Police – the Geheim Feld Polizei – who
demanded from the caretaker the keys of all
the rooms in the building, and proceeded to
place seals on all the doors. Then, on
Thursday, 23 January 1941, a squad of
special troops, or Einsatzstab, arrived from
France and proceeded to take an inventory
of the contents and also to photograph the
main rooms including the temple.
This led to the despatch of further squads
of Einsatzstab from Berlin, who commenced
the systematic looting and pillaging of the
building on 27 January 1941. All the main
pieces of furniture, the many beautiful
furnishings and the whole of the contents
of the library and museum were stripped
out, loaded on to lorries and shipped out
of the Island.
Anything which the looters did not want
was either smashed and left lying around or
piled in great heaps in the caretaker’s garden
and burnt. Photographs taken immediately
after the building was repossessed by the
Masonic authorities in 1945 indicate the
scale of the devastation inflicted.
Above:
Empty wine bottles stacked in the Jersey Masonic centre by the German occupation forces
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
Web site created by Mark Griffin
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