Nazi Prisons in Britain is a groundbreaking book - a systematic study of
Jersey and Guernsey prisons during the German occupation of the Channel
Islands based on the experiences of the prisoners. It brings to light
for the first time the surviving sources - memoirs, diaries, official
archival material, poetry, graffiti, autograph books, letters and
material culture are all included. This dazzling array of evidence
reveals the reality of life behind bars in Nazi prisons on British
territory.
Gilly Carr's powerful book shines a light into political prisoner
consciousness and solidarity, and shows how they resisted the regime
with the limited tools at their disposal. It gives a fascinating insight
into how the experience varied according to age, sex, class, and
seriousness of offense.
The text is enlivened by the words of notorious wartime criminals,
including Eddie Chapman - Agent Zigzag - and the traitor Eric Pleasants,
who later joined the SS. Also featured are the letters of the 'Jersey
21', who later died in concentration camps, those of surrealist artists
Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, condemned to death for their resistance
activities, and the lost prison diaries of Frank Falla, Guernsey's best
known resister.