Stolpersteine: Remembering the Victims One Name At A Time

You may have passed a Stolperstein without realizing what it was. Set into pavements throughout Europe are brass plaques bearing a person’s name and a few details of a life changed forever by Nazi persecution. They are called Stolpersteine, or “stumbling stones” in English.

I first learned about Stolpersteine during a trip to the Netherlands and Germany. I have long been drawn to the history of World War II, and on repeated visits to Amsterdam I have sought out museums and sites that tell the stories of the occupation and the Dutch resistance. Learning about these memorials was especially meaningful to me. Once I understood what they represented, I could no longer walk past them without stopping to read the names.

Each Stolperstein remembers one person—and brings that person’s name back to the place where they once lived.

What are Stumbling Stones?

The German word Stolperstein means “stumbling stone” or “stumbling block.” Each memorial consists of a concrete block topped with a hand-inscribed brass plate and placed into the pavement.

Most Stolpersteine are placed in front of the last home where the person lived by choice, before persecution forced them to leave. The inscription begins with “Here lived,” followed by the person’s name and information about his or her fate.

Sometimes you will see a single stumbling stone. In other places, several stumbling stones appear together, remembering members of a family who once shared that home.

They are easy to walk past—or even over—without noticing. But once you know what they represent, it is difficult not to stop and read the names.

Where Are Stolpersteine Found?

More than 116,000 Stolpersteine have been installed in over 1,860 communities across 31 European countries, making the project the largest decentralized memorial in the world.

Unlike a traditional memorial that you make a point of visiting, you may simply encounter stumbling stones as you explore. They are part of the places where everyday life continues around them.

The Stolpersteine for Anne Frank and her family offer a meaningful example. They are not located in front of the Anne Frank House, where the family went into hiding. Instead, they are at Merwedeplein 37 in Amsterdam, the home where the Frank family lived before they were forced into hiding.

That is part of what makes these memorials so powerful. They return each person’s name to the surroundings that were once part of an ordinary life.

Who Created the Stolpersteine?

Stolpersteine are the creation of German artist Gunter Demnig. The idea grew out of an earlier project in Cologne commemorating the deportation of Sinti and Roma under the Nazis. Through that work, Demnig became aware of how easily the stories of people who had once lived in a neighborhood could disappear from its collective memory.

He developed the idea for Stolpersteine in the early 1990s. Rather than create one large memorial, he wanted to return the names of victims to the places that had once been their homes.

The first Stolpersteine were placed in Cologne in 1995. What began as an art project has since spread across Europe.

Demnig often refers to a thought from the Talmud: a person is forgotten only when his or her name is forgotten. That idea is at the heart of the Stolpersteine project.

Who Is Remembered?

Although many Stolpersteine commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust, the project remembers all those who were persecuted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945.

They include Sinti and Roma, people with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses, people persecuted because of their political beliefs or sexual orientation, forced laborers, and others who were targeted by the Nazi regime.

Not all stumbling stones represent someone who was murdered. Some commemorate people who survived persecution, escaped, or were forced to flee their homes.

When several members of a family lived at the same address, their stumbling stones may be placed together. Seeing those names side by side transforms history from numbers into people—a family that once lived behind that door.

When You See a Stolperstein

The next time you are exploring Europe, look down. You may see a Stolperstein set into the pavement.

Stop for a moment and read the name.

That person once walked the same street, entered the building in front of you, and lived a life there.

For me, that is the power of these memorials. History suddenly becomes very personal. It is no longer only about dates, events, and numbers. It is about the individual whose name is right there at your feet.

The guiding principle of the Stolpersteine project says it best:

One stone. One name. One person.

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