I didn't know this, but there were actually a few genuine feudal lords during the 1930s. The last of these, the Isle of Sark in the English Channel, was a fief ruled by a hereditary lord until 2008, when it was democratized. There is still a lord, but now it's a more ceremonial role.
This article is about how Dame Sybil Hathaway, the Isle's feudal lord, handled the Nazis taking over her fief. It's a good story. Too bad her autobiography is out of print.
5 comments:
An advantage to being conquered by Nazis as opposed to Communists, who would have been committed to destroying the class structure and re-educating her against her notions of privilege and aristocracy.
I suppose it helped that the aristocratic Germans were themselves rather suspicious of the Nazis, who were a threat to their own privileges as well.
Amazing story, I knew of the German occupation of the Channel Isles but had no idea of what occurred on Sark. Thank you!
She was lucky and submissive. And the occupiers were inclined to let things be. Talk away about the courtly manners etc- but if the wrong Nazi officer had come on the scene, or if the islanders had raised a hand against them, they would all have been shot out of hand. Examples abound. Strikes me the article was written by one of the enlightened who insist everything can be solved nonviolently. Generally speaking, getting your enemy occupier to fret over why they cannot produce butter from skim is not classed highly as a resistance maneuver.
Yes, if the Nazis has been the kind who didn’t wipe their boots — and were committed to the ideology — it would be a shorter, sadder story.
Luck is usually a factor in war, of course.
On the other hand, don't downplay the importance of an aristocratic identity to someone who was brought up that way. As the article points out, Dame Sybil knew a number of important German commanders because she was in their aristocratic circles.
Aristocrats will be thinking about what happens after the war, and their reputations for actions taken during the war will be important then.
So she was lucky, but at the same time, it seems like she played the hand fate dealt her well.
Also, I didn't smell anything pacifist about this. The author doesn't hide the fact that the Isle of Sark was freed by military actions.
Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting story. After reading it, I would really like to visit the Isle someday.
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