Jersey Heritage and ArtHouse explore untold stories of Liberation

Liberation 80 exhibitions look at the history of occupation and liberation through a fresh lens.

Jersey Heritage's exhibition ‘Life after Liberation: the road to recovery’ shares the story of the years that followed the celebrations on 9 May 1945.

After the initial relief, it shares the challenges and opportunities the Island faced at the end of five long years of German Occupation.

Lucy Layton, Jersey Heritage’s Exhibitions Curator, says what followed soon after the day itself is often not considered.

"We start on Liberation Day, but then we go daily, looking at what was happening. 

"There was a lot to do as people tried to regain their lives and return the island to normal. Both on personal levels, and for the government and logistical side.

"Something massive was the clean-up operation. After 5 years of occupation, the island was littered with guns, rifles, mines, helmets, miles of barbed wire, and prisoners of war. Beach access had been cut off. There was a huge task. 

"It was huge period of change. After the trauma, people were so keen to remove it."

The notes were languishing in the treasury and now are owned by the archive.

"We have German banknotes that have never been on display before. During the occupation, they had to use that currency, but once it was over, they wanted to be rid of it.

"Half a million pounds of Sterling was delivered to the banks, and people were given three days to visit the bank and swap their currency; there were huge queues all through town.

"The notes we have on display have been in a vault at the treasury for the past 75 years."

"The exhibition also shows that islanders were looking ahead with hope, getting the agricultural industry ready to export again, getting married, and rebuilding hotels that had been stripped for firewood to open their doors to tourists."

A uniform and a wedding dress, repurposed as an evening dress by a 'thrfty wartime bride' has been donated 

ArtHouse Jersey has also unveiled their Liberation exhibition. 'Structures and Memory (a place called Wurzach) explores the experiences of the Jersey deportees in a southern German prison camp during World War II.

It reimagines how we can learn from the experiences, and showcases the St Helier Bad Wurzach Partnerschaft by pairing local artists' work with archive material from the camp.

Islanders are invited to the exhibition which is open until Sunday 8 June

It features the work of composer Emily de Gruchy, documentary photographer Shan O’Donnell, sculptural and performance artists Oliver Le Gresley and Nicole Sheppard.

The Bailiff, Sir Tim Le Cocq, says art is a great medium to explore the reconciliation:

"What we have in this is a reimagining of certain aspects of their lived experience, and it's been done at a time when we still have people who have real memories - not secondary or family memories - of their time as internees.

"Those memories can be translated into art to reimagine how we go into the future."

"This is important to remember. It's important to remember those who didn't come back. 

"Over the decades, the relationship between the people of Bad Wurzach and those who were internees there has  grown due to the actions of the partnerschaft, and now there's a real positive connection."