Stolpersteine - Stumbling stones
An art project, that commemorates the victims of National Socialism, keeping alive the memory of all Jews, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, dissidents, Jehova’s witnesses, and victims of Euthanasia, who were deported and exterminated during the Nazi reign
The artist Gunter Demnig remembers the victims of National Socialism by installing commemorative brass plaques in the pavement in front of their last address of choice, thus reinforcing the fact, that all these people were once our next-door neighbours, were our fellow citizens, belonging to our society and to our nation, living among us.
There are now STOLPERSTEINE (lit. “stumbling stones or blocks”) in at least 1265 towns in Germany, as well as in 21 other European countries. Gunter Demnig cites the Talmud saying that "a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten". The Stolpersteine in front of the buildings bring back to memory the people who once lived here.
Almost every “stone” begins with HERE LIVED…
One stone. One name. One person.
There are 170 stumbling stones in Bamberg, serving as ground-level memorials. Godparents take care of the plaques and clean and decorate them on a regular basis and thus serve this philanthropic and humanitarian aspiration for mankind.
