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The Island’s Polish community is being invited to a Liberation Day ceremony tomorrow to remember the thousands forced to work by the Germans during the Occupation.
The UK’s Polish Ambassador Witold Sobków will be in Jersey for the special commemoration tomorrow afternoon and will lay a wreath in memory of all the poles who toiled and died in the Island during the Occupation.
The Air Attaché to the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the UK, Sergey Suvunov, and the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Belorus to the UK, Vitaly Krishtanosov will also be at the ceremony.
It will be led by the Lieutenant-Governor, General Sir John McColl. Wreaths will also be laid by the Bailiff, the Chief Minister, the Island’s religious communities, families of forced workers, the Island’s French, German and Belgian Consuls, the Parish of St Helier and many other organisations and individuals.
It’s being organized by Gary Font, the son of Spanish Republican forced worker Fransico Font who made Jersey his home after the war.
He said: “A simple ceremony has been held every Liberation Day to remember the slave and forced workers for more than 50 years, and I and my fellow organisers are proud to carry on this very important Island tradition.
“We are honoured to be welcoming the Polish Ambassador and the officials from Russia and Belorus, as well as our many loyal local supporters.”
The ceremony doesn’t just remember the Poles but also all the Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Spanish Republicans, North Africans, French, Jews and Belgians who were forced to work to turn the Channel Islands into fortresses as part of Hitler’s Atlantic Wall.
The ceremony starts at 3 pm in the grounds of the Crematorium at Westmount.
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