VIDEO: How could this little piece of paper bring down Hitler?

Tuesday 17 January 2017

Old newspapers, photos and postcards might be the usual relics of a bygone era found during a family home clear-out, but one islander’s curious discovery might once have led to a heavy-handed reprisal – or even death – at the hands of the Nazis.

Jersey girl Emma Fernandes was looking through old family trinkets, when she came across a quirky piece of propaganda: a subversive origami-style game aimed at undermining Hitler.

The Occupation-era paper puzzle, which depicts four pigs, invites the user to fold along the dotted line to find “the biggest of all”: the Fuhrer.

VIDEO: How the four-pig puzzle transforms into World War Two dictator, Adolf Hitler. (Source: Youtube/Pedro Henrique)

While the game was shown to Ms Fernandes by her mother, who had in turn been given it by her own grandmother, it was originally the possession of wartime Jersey resident Lilian Le Brocq – Ms Fernandes’ great great grandmother (‘Nanny’).

“My mum was given it when she was quite young. She used to regularly ask her gran if she could look through a trinket tin, containing ration books, photographs, etcetera, but this puzzle was her favourite,” she told Express.

“I'm surprised that of all the things Nanny chose to keep, this was one of them. She told my mum that it made them chuckle during the war!”

During the German Occupation of the Channel Islands (1940-45), Mrs Le Brocq, alongside her husband Walter, and the couple’s grown-up children and partners were evacuated to Bristol by plane.

“Not all of the family left Jersey, though. One of Lilian’s other children, Mavis, and her family went to the harbour, but were sent away as the boats were full,” Ms Fernandes explained.

When they returned, the family learned that Nazis had been living in the house.

Pictured: Ms Fernandes' great grandmother, Lilian Le Brocq, with her son Den, and husband, Walter, taken during the war. (Photo: Emma Fernandes)

While Ms Fernandes is not certain where the puzzle originated – perhaps picked up by Mrs Le Brocq’s RAF serviceman son – one thing is for sure: it was a risky possession to own on Island soil back then.

It is estimated that around 200 people in Jersey distributed such anti-Nazi material as part of a ‘Resistance’ effort in which surrealist photographer Claude Cahun and her partner Marcel Schwab famously played a part.

But those found to be involved were subject to brutal punishments – often in the form of open public beatings.

These days, the simple sheet of A4 paper can fetch between £20 and £50 at auction, but Ms Fernandes is intent on keeping it in the family.

“I’m so glad that my family have kept such things. My Gran (Nanny's granddaughter) still has their ration books and so many other keepsakes that will certainly never be leaving the family. It's probably due to the family still living in Nanny's house that so much has been preserved!”

Pictured: The completed puzzle, which Ms Fernandes will be keeping for sentimental value. (Photo: Emma Fernandes)