09 Dec War on the Margins

War on the Margins, WWII novel by Libby Cone

I recently discovered the “Channel Islands,” a small cluster of islands positioned between the coasts of Britain and France. The two largest are Guernsey and Jersey. According to the official website of the British Monarchy, they are not part of the United Kingdom. They are “dependent territories of the British Crown.”

Not exactly sure what that means, government wise, but during World War II they were occupied by Germany and that country was obviously excited to be able to control them as potential stepping stones to Great Britain. The Nazi’s forged ahead with their miserable policies there, causing much disruption and suffering.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society novel is a collection of letters to and from folks who lived on Guernsey and lived through the German occupation. I enjoyed the book and wrote about it last week.

So when I received War on the Margins,  another book about this newly discovered (by me) Second World War locale I picked it up immediately and started to read. Written by Libby Cone, most of the story takes place on Jersey, the other largest island of the group, during this same period. I finished the book the next day. Couldn’t wait to finish it, in fact. I loved that it is based on real documents and what actually happened during those terrible years.

The first character we meet is Marlene, a young lady who works in the Jersey Aliens Office. Her boss is in charge of keeping track of the residents who are to be registered as Jewish. We read the actual documents which were published by the German Military Administration and which described who was and who was not considered to be Jewish. Anyone who was “Jewish” had to come in and fill out papers.

She kept reassuring herself that she had only two Jewish grandparents, so she didn’t really count. (re. Marlene, in “War on the Margins”)

Immediately all books in the library written by Jewish authors were burned. Soon, the Jewish businesses were curtailed. Each edict was worse than the one before.

As I read these first chapters, I was feeling very nauseated. It dawned on me that it was the same feeling I get when I am really nervous or afraid. Such as when I was young, right before a piano recital or, more recently, when I flew in an airplane shortly after 9/11. Everyone knows what that feeling is like, deep in your gut.

All of a sudden I knew that Marlene had to have had that same sick terrified feeling. You see, I also have two Jewish grandparents. I knew just how she felt.

War on the Margins at amazon.com

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