Search Jersey, German Occupation Identity Cards 1940-1945

Records in this collection can include the following information about an ancestor:

• Name
• Sex
• Place and date of birth
• Nationality
• Date their card was issued
• Address
• Archival referece

A link to view the original record on the Jersey Heritage website

These records were created under instruction from the German occupying authorities, through the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. This instruction decreed that all over the age of 14 must be registered and issued with an identity card to be kept with them at all times. An official index to these cards was kept, and is now housed at Jersey Archives. With no 1939 identity register taken in the Channel Islands, this collection forms the most comprehensive census substitute available to a family historian.

These records have two forms, a comprehensive sheet of information that includes physical descriptions, military service and any known disabilities, and a card that usually contains a photograph of the individual. The original images of these records, which contain more information, are available through the accompanying link with each record.

Cards for those who died during the occupation were destroyed and are no longer available, information about children under the age of 14 was added to the back of their father’s card.