Date
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"Stolpersteine" / Stones of Remembrance #germany
alexander.burstein@...
Hello,
To my knowledge the "Stolpersteine" initiative was started in Germany in the early 1990ies, by the artist Gunther Demnig. Unfortunately, in my view, he named those memory stones for Holocaust victims "Stolpersteine". I think this was a very unfortunate naming because in German "stolpern" has a negative connotation. "Stolpern", stumbling, means you are struggling to walk because of a barrier, an obstacle. So in a wider sense "Stolpersteine" are barriers which make one struggling. I think the artist's intention was to force people thinking of the Shoah victims as a consequence of "stolpern" (stumbling) because of the stone in the pavement. From an artistic point of view a honorable strategy but I still believe the naming "Stolpersteine" was by far not the best idea.
In my home country Austria those stones got named "Steine der Erinnerung" ("Stones of Remembrance") which is, in my view a much better, dignified name. The name describes what all is about, namely to remember victims of the Shoah in front of the house where they used to live. Myself I have funded a STONE OF REMEMBRANCE for my great grand-parents.
What is your opinion?
Kindest regards,
Alexander Burstein
To my knowledge the "Stolpersteine" initiative was started in Germany in the early 1990ies, by the artist Gunther Demnig. Unfortunately, in my view, he named those memory stones for Holocaust victims "Stolpersteine". I think this was a very unfortunate naming because in German "stolpern" has a negative connotation. "Stolpern", stumbling, means you are struggling to walk because of a barrier, an obstacle. So in a wider sense "Stolpersteine" are barriers which make one struggling. I think the artist's intention was to force people thinking of the Shoah victims as a consequence of "stolpern" (stumbling) because of the stone in the pavement. From an artistic point of view a honorable strategy but I still believe the naming "Stolpersteine" was by far not the best idea.
In my home country Austria those stones got named "Steine der Erinnerung" ("Stones of Remembrance") which is, in my view a much better, dignified name. The name describes what all is about, namely to remember victims of the Shoah in front of the house where they used to live. Myself I have funded a STONE OF REMEMBRANCE for my great grand-parents.
What is your opinion?
Kindest regards,
Alexander Burstein
David Lewin
At 14:25 21/08/2022, alexander.burstein@... wrote:
The stumbling stones are always found on sidewalks. A person walking
on the sidewalk does not trip over such a stone with his feet, but
only with his eyes. That is where the name "stumbling stone" comes from.
They are called "Stolpersteine" because anyone who sees them in
passing is supposed to stumble over them in their mind, pause for a
moment and read the engraving. Under the heading "Here lived..." a
piece of history is thus brought back into our everyday lives
directly in front of the victim's home.
Translated from
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=warum+hei%C3%9Fen+stolpersteine+stolpersteine
with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
David Lewin
London
Search & Unite attempt to help locate people who, despite the passage
of so many years since World War II, may still exist "out there".
We also assist in the process of re-possession of property in the
Czech Republic and Israel.
See our Web pages at https://remember.org/unite/
Hello,
To my knowledge the "Stolpersteine" initiative was started in
Germany in the early 1990ies, by the artist Gunther Demnig.
Unfortunately, in my view, he named those memory stones for
Holocaust victims "Stolpersteine". I think this was a very
unfortunate naming because in German "stolpern" has a negative
connotation. "Stolpern", stumbling, means you are struggling to walk
because of a barrier, an obstacle. So in a wider sense
"Stolpersteine" are barriers which make one struggling. I think the
artist's intention was to force people thinking of the Shoah victims
as a consequence of "stolpern" (stumbling) because of the stone in
the pavement. From an artistic point of view a honorable strategy
but I still believe the naming "Stolpersteine" was by far not the best idea.
In my home country Austria those stones got named "Steine der
Erinnerung" ("Stones of Remembrance") which is, in my view a much
better, dignified name. The name describes what all is about, namely
to remember victims of the Shoah in front of the house where they
used to live. Myself I have funded a STONE OF REMEMBRANCE for my
great grand-parents.
What is your opinion?
Kindest regards,
Alexander Burstein
The stumbling stones are always found on sidewalks. A person walking
on the sidewalk does not trip over such a stone with his feet, but
only with his eyes. That is where the name "stumbling stone" comes from.
They are called "Stolpersteine" because anyone who sees them in
passing is supposed to stumble over them in their mind, pause for a
moment and read the engraving. Under the heading "Here lived..." a
piece of history is thus brought back into our everyday lives
directly in front of the victim's home.
Translated from
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=warum+hei%C3%9Fen+stolpersteine+stolpersteine
with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
David Lewin
London
Search & Unite attempt to help locate people who, despite the passage
of so many years since World War II, may still exist "out there".
We also assist in the process of re-possession of property in the
Czech Republic and Israel.
See our Web pages at https://remember.org/unite/
csicher@...
In addition, beginning in 1985, there are "Berliner Gedenktafel" on buildings around the city (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_memorial_plaque). This one--https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gedenktafel_Kurt_Singer.jpg--is at Mommsenstr. 56, next to a building where my father lived 1931-33, with a good view of Nazi demonstrations. At the time that the Gedenktafel was erected, his death at Theresienstadt on 7 Feb. 1944 wasn't known. When you see this quite large plaque, you "stumble" in your mind.
--
Carol Sicherman
Oakland,CA
--
Carol Sicherman
Oakland,CA
Veronica Zundel
I'm in the process of placing a 'Stein der Erinnerung' in Vienna for my grandmother, great-aunt and great-uncle. I actually prefer the term 'Stolpersteine' because it has the sense of bringing the casual stroller up short, forcing them to confront the past which can so easily get forgotten.
--
Veronica Zundel, London
Searching descendants of Josef Jakob Horoschowski b. 1905 Drohobych
--
Veronica Zundel, London
Searching descendants of Josef Jakob Horoschowski b. 1905 Drohobych