John registered as a Jew after the First Order against the Jews was registered in the Royal Court in October 1940. He was deported to St Malo on 12 February 1943, before being sent to Laufen internment camp in Bavaria, Germany. There he was singled out for special treatment and was transported to Tittmoning a few miles away.  

After several months, John was taken by train to Weimar and from there to the nearby Buchenwald concentration camp. Nearly two years later, as the Allied forces approached Buchenwald in early April 1945, the German forces transferred some of the prisoners, including John, to Theresienstadt. The majority of those transported were in an appalling physical condition, which combined with the poor sanitary and dietary conditions at Theresienstadt rapidly lead to epidemics.   

When the Soviet forces finally liberated Theresienstadt on 8 May 1945, John was amongst the 17,000 survivors. He was finally released and issued with a transit identity card in Lyon on 7 September 1945. He returned to Jersey before 4 January 1946. 

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