20th September 1945
Jersey man gives evidence at Belsen concentration camp trial
Jerseyman Harold le Druillenec was the only British survivor of the Belsen concentration camp, to which he was sent towards the end of the Second World War. He had already spent time in several other camps over the previous year. He had been arrested, along with 17 members of his family, for helping his sister Louisa Gould to shelter an escaped Russian officer.
Following the war, he gave testimony at the trial of those who had run the camp, describing an intolerable regime in which cannibalism was rampant and where he was tasked with placing bodies in mass graves.
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Other events that occured in September
Lee Wilson, Gerald Durrell’s wife and co-author, is born
- Lee McGeorge Wilson was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but moved to Jersey after marrying the naturalist, Gerald Durrell.
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Death of the Jersey-born ‘it’ girl
- Elinor Glyn was the original ‘it’ girl. She was born Elinor Sutherland in St Helier, and had a successful Hollywood scriptwriting career.
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Channel Television takes to the air
- Channel Television, which is headquartered in Jersey and has studios in Guernsey, produces regional output for the Channel Islands.
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Jersey lifeboat crew rescues stricken yacht
- Jersey's lifeboat crew received awards for a brave rescue of the six-member crew of the Bacchus in September 1973.
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