01/01/38
Janet was very demure sitting quietly listening to everyone's stories. Little did we know what she would tell us or what her object would reveal.
Janet poignantly described when as a small 3 year old child, along with the rest of her family, being deported to Biberach, a prisoner of war camp. After a German soldier had arrived one evening to notify them of their immediate deportation they quickly scrambled together what possessions they were allowed and the following day presented themselves down at the harbour. Her mum repeatedly saying "don't cry. Don't cry". You could imagine it was not just a message to the child but a way of steeling her own emotions against the awfulness of their situation.
Janet, her sister Mary and her mother were separated from her father although he was allowed to visit occasionally. Her mother worked in the camp kitchen which meant her mum could slip her the odd bit of food. Raw potato peelings featured a lot.
It was desperately cold, snow lay everywhere.They lived in a wooden barrack hut. A small stove in the middle the only heating available, there was little warmth. Every day they would be sent out to collect wood. As children they were afforded the brief liberty to play.
"One day in March we were playing hide and seek but when we got back to where they had been everyone had left. Miserably we decided to walk back to camp. We were greeted by guards with fixed bayonets. We were paraded before the camp Commandant. He was furious but as kids we just giggled. We were punished." She never told us how.
Eventually the Free French liberated them. An evening of tracer bullets around the camp heralded their arrival. The Americans were not far behind. A great sense of relief pervaded. They were flown back to the UK, each parent receiving half a crown and one for the two children.
Returning to Jersey they were able to move back into their home as relatives had inhabited it from the day of their departure.
Her mother never recovered and suffered from claustrophobia for years after. All the doors had to be removed from inside the house. Biberach had left a terrible legacy.
At some point Janet then uncovered her object. It was a Red Cross parcel containing some of the precious items they had received. Everyone was amazed and desperate to handle these tokens of the past, each discovery provoking squeals of delight and recognition. A can of KILM was the most easily recognised.
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