FOUR generations of families of forced and slave workers, who made Jersey their home after the Second World War, will gather to honour the memory of their forbears on Liberation Day.
Civilians and prisoners of war from across Europe and North Africa were brought to the Channel Islands by the Germans and forced to work constructing a network of fortifications as part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall which stretched from the coast of Norway to the French border with Spain.
They included Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Spanish Republicans, Algerians, Tunisians, Moroccans, Poles, French, Jews and Belgians.
The ceremony is organised by Gary Font, son of Spanish Republican forced worker Francisco Font who helped found the commemoration and went on to organise it for many years.
It has been held in the grounds of the crematorium at Westmount on Liberation Day since the mid-1960s.
Mr Font said: “The ceremony is as relevant today as in the early years even though the last forced worker, Belgian Emile Boydens, passed away in 2015.
“I hope that Islanders will join us in the grounds of the crematorium to stand together with community and religious leaders, organisations and individuals to acknowledge their suffering and honour the memory of all slave and forced workers who never made it home.”
Almost 40 wreaths are due to be laid during the simple ceremony and Mr Font will address the gathering.
He says anyone who wishes to lay a floral tribute may do so once the official wreath laying is complete and before the observance of the traditional one-minute silence.
The Lieutenant-Governor, Vice-Admiral Jerry Kidd, will lead the commemoration at 3pm on 9 May by laying a wreath on behalf of the Crown.
The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, will also lay a wreath, on behalf of the people of Jersey.
The ceremony is open to anyone who wishes to attend, to remember and pay respects to the thousands who were forced to work or enslaved during the Occupation.
