Saturday, September 13, 2008

vor unserem haus und überall


Stolpersteine (for "stumbling blocks", obstacles, something in the way) is a project of the artist Gunter Demnig. These memorials are supposed to remind of the people deported and then killed by the Nazis mostly in Nazi concentration camps or extermination camps.

Schools, relatives, and various organizations investigate facts about people, who were deported or persecuted during the regime of Nazi Germany. The databank of Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, provides more information.

Once the investigation work has been done, Demnig manufactures a concrete cube of 10 cm/ 4 in, which he covers with a sheet of brass. Then he adds the writing “Hier wohnte” (Here lived), the name, year of birth and the fate: mostly the date of deportation and of death. The Stolperstein is then put down flush in the pavement/sidewalk in front of the last residence of the victim.

The financial requirements are covered by donations, collections, individual citizens, contemporary witnesses, school classes, or communities. One Stolperstein costs €95.

Vor unserem Haus befinden sich drei Stolpersteine. Mir scheint es die beste Idee der Erinnerung. Ein Denkmal des Alltags, viel wirksamer als Museen oder Filme.

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