LIBERATION Day provides an opportunity to reflect on the “tolerance”, “commitment to human rights” and “fairness” on which Jersey is built, the Bailiff has said on the 81st anniversary of the end of the Island’s Occupation.
Delivering his first Liberation Day address as Bailiff, Robert MacRae reflected on the hardships endured during the five years of German Occupation and paid tribute to those who lived through the uncertainty and deprivation of wartime Jersey.
He said: “Liberation Day is not only a day when we all come together as an island to celebrate the events of 9 May 1945, but it is also a day when we may reflect on the events of the Occupation, and think about what it meant for those who suffered five harsh years deprived of so many of their liberties, cut off from friends and families outside the Island – including those who took the very difficult decision to evacuate in 1940 and those who were forcibly interned in Germany in 1942.
“It is hard for us now to understand the uncertainties that all those Islanders experienced – including not knowing when or even if the Occupation would end. And for those evacuated or interned, when they would see their beautiful island of Jersey again. But people did not lose hope.”
The Liberation Day celebrations were attended by Excellency Susanne Baumann, the German Ambassador to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Sven Sakkov, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia, Monsieur Hervé Mariton, President of the Franco-British Council and to welcome back to Jersey the Rt Hon Lord Peter Ricketts, Chair of the Franco-British Council.
“We reflect today, not only on the events of those wartime years but on what has happened since. Despite conflicts elsewhere, we can be proud and grateful for the fact that Jersey – and most of Western Europe – has known peace for the past 80 years,” Mr MacRae said.
“It is said that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. The forces of Nazi Germany which led to the Second World War and appalling atrocities, including the Holocaust, promoted intolerance, division and brutality.
“The Jersey we know today – and the European democracies we regard as our neighbours and friends – have been built on tolerance and a commitment to human rights and fairness. Liberation Day is an opportunity for us to reflect on that.”
Full Liberation Day coverage in Monday’s JEP
