Clifford Orange and War Time Collaboration

Clifford Orange, the Chief Aliens Officer in Jersey during the German occupation, was actively involved in compiling and submitting lists of Jews to the German authorities from 1940 through at least late 1942.

Key Timeline Highlights:

• September 1940 – October 1942: Orange was involved in registering Jews, marking businesses as “Jewish Undertakings,” and facilitating Aryanization (forced liquidation or transfer of Jewish-owned businesses).

• January 6, 1942: He submitted a list of Jews who had left Jersey before the occupation began, indicating ongoing cooperation with German demands.

• November 1942: Records show his involvement in registration and correspondence regarding sojourners and Jewish residents continued until at least this point

While there’s no single documented “end date” for his activities, the last known administrative actions linked to Jewish registration and compliance with German orders appear to taper off by late 1942. After that, deportations and harsher measures were increasingly handled directly by German authorities, though local officials like Orange had already laid much of the groundwork.

Post War

As from September 1942, when it became obvious the purpose to which lists of persons supplied long before were being put, I refused to supply any further lists to the German authorities.” (cited in John Nettles’ book Jewels and Jackboots: Hitler’s British Channel Islands.)

This statement suggests that Orange attempted to draw a moral line—implying that once the deportation intent was clear, he ceased cooperation. However, archival evidence shows that his active role in registering Jews and encouraging uncertain individuals to come forward continued past this date, later into 1942.

Timeline

June 1942: The BBC aired a broadcast based on Polish Jewish sources, reporting mass killings in places like Chełmno and Vilnius. It estimated 700,000 Jews murdered in Poland alone.

December 17, 1942: Eleven Allied governments issued a formal declaration condemning the Nazis’ “cold-blooded extermination” of Jews. British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden read it aloud in Parliament, and the BBC reported it the same day

Contextual Timeline:

Clifford Orange was still compiling and submitting lists of Jewish residents in Jersey after the BBC’s June 1942 broadcast reporting mass killings of Jews in occupied Europe.

• June 1942: The BBC aired a report estimating 700,000 Jews had been murdered in Poland, based on underground sources. This was one of the earliest public acknowledgments of systematic extermination.

• Summer–Autumn 1942: Despite this growing awareness, Orange continued administrative cooperation with German directives. He submitted lists of Jewish residents, marked businesses as “Jewish Undertakings,” and processed identity documentation that facilitated Nazi racial policies.

• November 1942: His involvement appears to persist at least until this point, based on surviving records and correspondence.

Moral and Historical Implications:

This overlap is deeply significant. It shows that even as the scale of Nazi atrocities was becoming publicly known—through broadcasts like the BBC’s and diplomatic declarations—local officials in occupied territories like Jersey were still complying with German racial orders. Orange’s actions weren’t isolated; they were part of a broader pattern of bureaucratic collaboration that enabled persecution, even in places far from the Eastern Front.

The argument from hindsight

One argument I have heard is that we cannot judge Clifford Orange with the benefit of hindsight. There are a number of weaknesses with this as a principle:

Erodes Individual Moral Agency

By insisting we cannot judge Orange with hindsight, this risks portraying him as a passive executor of orders rather than an active moral agent.

Downplaying his agency makes all administrators under occupation equally blameless, contradicting documented cases in the Channel Islands where some officials resisted harsh measures.

Conflates Contextual Constraint with Exculpation

This stance treats the occupied environment as uniformly coercive, yet:

Numerous islanders maintained moral integrity despite the same pressures—clergy hid refugees, civil servants omitted names from lists, and medical staff falsified records.

Equating Orange’s choices with theirs erases meaningful distinctions in conduct under duress.

Slides Toward Moral Relativism

A blanket prohibition on judging past actors risks excusing any collaborator:

Postwar tribunals and local inquiries repeatedly held individuals accountable for “following orders” when orders violated fundamental human rights.

This position could undercut the very principles of accountability that shaped post-occupation justice.