Jersey / Monument
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On this site stood Albert Bedane’s home and physiotherapy surgery where, at great risk to himself, he sheltered a Jewish lady named Mary Erica Richardson for two years during the German Occupation of Jersey.
Mary had not registered under the first anti-Jewish Order of October 1940, although she did register eventually in February 1941 when all Islanders were to be issued with identity cards. Some of the details entered on her registration form were inaccurate.
On 25 June 1943, Mary was taken by government officials to be photographed. It’s unclear whether this was on government orders, or those of the German authorities, although it is likely that she had not complied with the German Order requiring the mass photography of the general population in 1942. Later that day, she went into hiding.
Albert’s clinic, attached to his home in Roseville Street was very close to Mary’s apartment at Overseas Flats. At first, she was hidden in the three-roomed cellar, before being moved to the first floor a few months later. The German authorities promptly began a search, which included Albert’s clinic. She hid once again in the secret cellar.
Mary occasionally sat out in the garden, having changed her hairstyle, and wore dark glasses. In the final weeks of the war, she came out of hiding to care for her husband, who was by then an invalid.
Albert also took in escaped Russian slave workers and others who were on the run from the German forces.
When interviewed by the Jersey Evening Post in 1970, Albert stated: ‘She [Mrs Richardson] had been questioned by the Germans at College House…and was allowed to go home and collect her jewels and valuables because, she was told that she was to be sent to a “very nice, special camp where she would be well looked after and she would need her best things with her.” While she was getting ready to go to the very nice camp she managed to escape and made her way to Mr Bedane’s physiotherapy clinic.’
In the year 2000, Albertreceived posthumous recognition of his bravery in the form of Israel’s highest holocaust honour, ‘Righteous Among the Nations’. His medal and certificate are on display in the Occupation Tapestry Gallery of the Maritime Museum in St Helier.
45, Roseville Street, St Helier, JE2 4EP, Jersey