Panelists and terms of reference announced for review into Alderney prison camp deaths

The panel of experts and terms of reference for a review into how many prisoners of war died in Alderney have been announced. Credit: ITV Channel

The panel of experts and terms of reference for a review into how many people died in prison camps built by the Nazis in Alderney has been announced.

Lord Pickles, the UK's envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, previously told ITV News that leading academics from around the world would be taking part.

He said: "The panel of international experts is currently being put together. It will be an academic peer review of the numbers of prisoners murdered by the Nazis by brutality, neglect, work or judicial process. No human remains will be disturbed."

The Conservative peer added the review should put an end to "considerable speculation" and "conspiracy theories" about how many prisoners of war died in Alderney during the island's wartime occupation.

  • Lord Pickles has gathered a group of experts to find the real number of people who died in Alderney during the Second World War.

On Thursday 27 July, the full panel of eleven experts was announced. It is comprised of:

  • Project chair: Dr Paul Sanders (NEOMA Business School, Reims, France)

  • Professor Marc Buggeln (Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany)

  • Dr Gilly Carr (University of Cambridge, UK)

  • Dr Daria Cherkaska (Staffordshire University, UK)

  • Mr Kevin Colls, MSc (Staffordshire University, UK)

  • Dr Karola Fings (Heidelberg University, Germany)

  • Professor Fabian Lemmes (Universität des Saarlandes, Germany)

  • Benoit Luc, MA (Directeur du Service Départemental de l’Office National des Combattants et Victimes de Guerre de Loire-Atlantique, France)

  • Jurat Colin Partridge OBE (Alderney)

  • Professor Caroline Sturdy Colls (Staffordshire University, UK)

  • Professor Robert Jan Van Pelt (University of Waterloo, Canada)

Lord Pickles said the panel members are all "independent, experienced and internationally recognised experts" who will review evidence to try and provide an accurate record of how many people died during the Second World War.

Islanders or members of the public from overseas are being invited to give evidence to contribute to the review - that can include historical evidence, files or other information on the number of slave labourers who passed through Alderney.

Anyone with information has until Wednesday 1 November 2023 to email their evidence to ukhmfsecretariat@levellingup.gov.uk.

More information on contributing to the review can be found on gov.uk.

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