You can send a photo, a story or a correction about the person named on a Stolperstein to Stichting 18 September, the foundation behind Stolpersteine.app. The address is [email protected]. The foundation keeps a database of Stolpersteine in the Netherlands and Belgium, and now also of stones in other countries.
What the map shows
On the map of Stolpersteine.app you can search by name, street or city. You see who is commemorated at an address, and you see a photo of the person when one is available. A photo can be shown with the stone on the map.
What to include
Give the name as written on the stone, the street and the town of the stone, so the foundation knows which stone it concerns. Say also where the photo or story comes from, so the foundation can check it. A correction to an existing text is also welcome.
Research first
Many people begin with research in archives. Useful sources include the Joods Monument, the Oorlogsgravenstichting, Netwerk Oorlogsbronnen, Arolsen Archives, Yad Vashem and Kazerne Dossin. The links page on this site gives their addresses.
Who is on the map
The map shows stones for people from all groups persecuted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. These include Jews, Sinti and Roma, people persecuted for political reasons, resistance members, homosexual men, Jehovah’s Witnesses, victims of the “euthanasia” murders, forced labourers, deserters and conscientious objectors, and others. Each stone is for one person, and it shows the name, the year of birth and what happened to the person. Stones are also laid for people who survived.
Together, the Netherlands and Belgium have more than 15,600 Stolpersteine. The first Stolpersteine in the Netherlands were laid in Borne in 2007, and Belgium followed in 2009. The foundation also keeps records of stones in other countries, and there is a free app for iPhone and Android.
From an address on the map you can make a walking route past stones nearby, as a round trip or one way, for a chosen duration.
Look up the stone on the map to see what is already shown about the person.
Read on
Why does Munich not allow Stolpersteine?
Munich does not allow Stolpersteine on public ground. The best-known critic, Charlotte Knobloch, objects that the names lie where people walk.
Stolperstein or memorial plaque: what is the difference?
A Stolperstein is a small stone set in the pavement for one person. An ordinary memorial plaque or monument usually stands in one place.
How do you explain Stolpersteine to children?
Start with the stone itself: a small brass plate in the pavement with a name and the words here lived. Then explain who lived there and what happened.
