What is "ilag"

Ilag is an abbreviation of the German word Internierungslager. They were internment camps established by the German Army in World War II to hold Allied civilians, caught in areas that were occupied by the German Army. They included United States citizens caught in Europe by surprise when war was declared in December 1941 and citizens of the British Commonwealth caught in areas engulfed by the Blitzkrieg.

They included British born citizens who were resident in the Channel Islands. In October 1941 orders for the internment of 8,000 British were issued, this was in retaliation for the internment by the British Army of 800 Germans living in Iran. The order was not carried out until the order was reissued by Adolf Hitler in September 1942. The German commander of the islands, based in Jersey, was ordered to deport to camps in Germany all British citizens, not born in the islands. The numbers were reduced, in total one quarter of the Channel Islands British citizens, over 2,000 men, women and children were deported.