Occupation

Originally established in 1942 Alderney's four camps were built during the German Occupation of the Channel Islands and were the only ones of their sort built on British soil.

Many attended the commemoration service

In September 2008 former prisoners and families of those incarcerated at the Lager-Sylt camp, located to the south west of the island, laid a plaque on the gate post to commemorate those who were imprisoned and killed there.

Klass Kreiger, the son of one of the inmates who attended the ceremony said his father told him about his experiences there saying: "It was an awful time".

Though many involved in such atrocities could not speak of them after the war, Klass said his father "told us the stories because he wanted us to know what happened".

The commemorative plaque

The facility operated as a concentration camp between March 1943 and June 1944, after which it was 'liquidated' and the site cleared leaving only a few small remnants such as the gate posts that mark its entrance.

Another prisoner, who was sent to Alderney from Poland, told us food was "practically non-existent" at the camp and that he only survived because he could act as a translator between German and Polish speakers.

He said that the laying of the plaque gave him "satisfaction that somebody can see and hear what happened".