Stolperstein

Translated from the German means Stumbling Stone.

The COVID delayed Paris to Prague River Cruise with Viking eventually happened. On a guided tour of Bamberg in Germany the guide pointed out these Stolpersteins. I must confess the concept of the Stolperstein and the research and caring that must have taken place, so long after the events I found really moving. Pulled at my heart strings.

A Stolperstein is a concrete cube with a brass plate that is placed in the pavement outside of the last residence or workplace that was freely chosen by the person before they fell victim to the Nazi terrors. Their name, date of birth, deportation, destination and date of their death, where known, are inscribed by hand into the brass plate.

The Stolperstein project was created by a German artist, Gunter Demming in 1992. The majority of the Stolpersteins commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust, but they also commemorate other peoples who were sent to the prison and extermination camps.

This distributed memorial is primarily a “grassroots” project and the research is often performed by schoolchildren and their teachers or residents of a particular street. In this way the victims names are remembered and never to be forgotten.

To date over 75,000 Stolperstein have been installed in Germany, Austria, Italy, France, The Netherlands, The Czech Republic and Hungary – other countries occupied by Nazi Germany.

Each Stolperstein is still hand made to prevent the process from becoming anonymous.