Stolpersteine, also known as "paving stones of memory", are commemorative monuments installed in the streets of Strasbourg and other cities in Germany and Europe. They pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust, and serve as a reminder that history is made up of small stories - the stories of all those murdered by Nazism.
Along Boulevard Clémenceau, the walker's attention is drawn to these four cobblestones, shining in the sunlight. Bending down, one can read "Here lived Rabbi Robert Emmanuel Brunschwig, born 1888, interned at Drancy, deported 1944 to Auschwitz, murdered 20.5.1944".
The other three paving stones tell a similar story, that of Jews deported and killed during the Second World War. They are not placed there by chance. They mark the place of their last residence. A total of 20 paving stones like these were laid on Strasbourg streets on May 1, 2019.
Stumbling blocks to remember
They are the work of German artist Gunter Demnig, who in 1993 had the idea of installing Stolpersteine in memory of the mass deportation of Roma. This German term literally translates as "stumbling stones" and refers to an old saying from across the Rhine that when you stumbled over a stone, it meant that a Jew was buried there.
Above all, Demnig's work aims to stagger the mind, to remind us of the victims of Nazism, who could be Jewish, homosexual, political opponents or disabled. It also aims to bring these victims out of anonymity. A great deal of biographical research is carried out to obtain the necessary information: place of residence, date of birth, deportation route and date of death.
To date, over 70,000 Stolpersteine have been installed in 25 countries. Most of them in Germany, but also in France, Belgium, Austria and Argentina. This makes the project the world's largest Holocaust memorial.
Stolpersteine 67, the association dedicated to remembering the victims of Nazism
In the Lower Rhine region, the Stolpersteine 67 association is relaying the work of the Berlin artist and the installation of Stolpersteine for the victims of the Holocaust, deportation and the Nazi regime. Its volunteers are seeking to promote the initiative among local authorities, so that the memory of the victims can shine through locally.
List of Stolpersteine in Strasbourg
In Strasbourg today, there are around 60 Stolpersteine of memory laid between May 1, 2019 and May 16, 2022 for the last ones.
20 stolpersteine laid in 2019
- Schenkel family - 6 rue de Barr
- Brunschwig and Marx families - 19 boulevard de Clemenceau
- Théodore Ackermann - 5 rue Strauss Durkeim
- Loeb family - 28 rue Schwilgué
- Jeanne Bloch and Marcel Alexandre - 17 boulevard Tauler
- Abraham Lipszyc - 5 rue des Coordonniers
7 stolpersteine installed in 2021
- Lucien and Marthe DREYFUS - 33 avenue des Vosges
- Louis HALLEL - 12 rue du Général Gouraud
- Myrtil, Andrée and Georges BLOCH - 14 Rue Herder
- Léon RIEGER - 10 Rue Saint-Gothard
35 stolpersteine installed in 2022
- Bela KATZ - 7 rue des Ponts Couverts
- Charles MANGEL - 8 rue Sainte Madeleine
- Dina TURNER, Wolf TURNER, Chaim METZGER - 8 rue des Meuniers (Petite France)
- Maurice and Celad Gdalia CYTRYNOWICZ - 17 rue du Marais Kageneck
- Edwin HEIMANN - 2 rue de la Petite Eglise
- Chaim, Perle, Arnold, Erna, Regine DANIEL - 4 rue des Moulins
- Benjamin, Elie, Selma, Denise, Gilbert MAKOWSKI - 11 rue de l'Argonne
- Gerson MAKOWSKI - 63 rue du Fossé des Tanneurs
- Alphonse and Marthe ASCH, and Henri, Henriette Hortense, Jacques, Jean-Claude, Nicole Georgette WEILL - 5 allée de la Robertsau
- Hiler CHECINSKI - 52 rue du Faubourg-National
- Marcel LION - 4 rue Oberlin
- Charles ABRAHAM - 15 rue Strauss Durkheim
- Maurice SCHAENKEL - 33 boulevard de Nancy
- Léon Cohn - 2 place de Zurich
- Marguerite GUNZBURGER - 40 rue des Hallebardes
- Moszeck and Sarah ZOLTY - 7 rue du Maréchal Juin
- Raymond WINTER - 1 rue Sellenick
