In the paper yesterday was an article about "Stolpersteine": Stumbling Blocks. I'd never heard of this project before, but apparently, it was begun in the mid-nineties by an artist named Gunter Demnig. Along with supporters who "adopt" a stone, Demnig researches the last living places of the victims of the National Socialists (those who disappeared, died in camps, were killed for resisting, etc.); then they place a simple, cobblestone-sized block flush into the pavement in front of the person's former home, topped by a brass plate engraved with the words "Here lived..." Included is the victim's name, date of birth, date of death, and why/how they were killed. Demnig says, "A person is forgotten when his name is forgotten.
"Ein Stein. Ein Name. Ein Mensch." (A stone, a name, a person.)
The article in the paper is about some new stones laid in Ludwigshafen. I think I will go see them.
4 comments:
Wow -- what a great idea, and a very special tribute....the fact that someone would take the time and energy to do it -- what a great way to heal! I find this so touching -- thank you for sharing it.
A person never really knows how many others their own life will touch... in the present and in the future.
"Those who fail to remember the past, are doomed to repeat it."
....... Some very wise person a long time ago
(Long before Vietnam)
Interesting... there are several of these in our neighborhood, and we were wondering about who put them there. We were especially sad to see three of them in a street closey - of two parents and their less than one-year-old baby. Incredible; and how sad. I saw a woman polish them earlier that day...
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