Excellent series 5/5
World War 2 is fading in our Western historical past, and while we have a lot
of documentary footage, there is precious little dramatic programming such as
"Enemy At The Door".
This series is really great in many ways, and sadly it is not really great in that
it did not really last long enough to go through the whole history of the occupation
of the Channel Islands and their involvement in the war.
One very good thing is that this was done by producers who cared enough to try
to tell an objective accurate story, or at least as much as possible.
As mentioned in Wikipedia: "The series ended with the Germans still in occupation,
and did not depict their eventual defeat."
I have not yet seen both seasons of the series, but here is what Wikipedia as to
say about the latter years of the occupation:
"Life as a civilian during the occupation came as a shock. Having their own governments continuing to govern them softened the blow and kept most civilians at a distance from their oppressors. Many lost their jobs when businesses closed down and it was hard to find work with non-German employers. As the war progressed, life became harsher and morale fell, especially when radios were confiscated and then when deportations took place in September 1942. Food, fuel, and medicines became scarce and crime increased. Following 6 June 1944, liberation became more likely in the popular mind, but the hardest times for the civilians was still to come. The winter of 1944-45 was very cold and hungry, many of the population being saved from starvation by the arrival of Red Cross parcels."
This is a fascinations story, just a fraction of which was told in this series. O'd love to see this story get picked up and told, but I don't think today this story could be told without being exaggerated and dramatized ... it is dramatic enough. I never knew about this particular piece of history, and the series does a good job of giving us an idea of it, even if it stopped before the events got really horrible.
I would recommend this to anyone interested.
Here is a link to the Guernsey German Occupation Museum:
http://www.germanoccupationmuseum.co.uk/index.html