Many Stolpersteine name a place where the person was arrested, deported or died. Some of these places were Nazi camps, such as Auschwitz, Sobibor and Bergen-Belsen. This article explains what such place names mean on a stone.
What a place name on a stone refers to
Stolperstein is German for stumbling stone. Gunter Demnig, who had the idea for the stones in 1992, says that people stumble with their head and their heart. To read the inscription, you have to bow, because the stone lies flush with the pavement.
The inscription on a Stolperstein usually begins with "HIER WOHNTE" in German, "HIER WOONDE" in Dutch or "ICI HABITAIT" in French. These words mean "here lived". Then the inscription gives the name, the year of birth and what happened to the person. This can include the date and place of arrest or deportation, and the place and date of death.
A place name on the stone therefore refers to a step in that person's life. It does not show where the stone lies. A stone lies in front of the last home the person chose freely, before they were forced to move, go into hiding or were arrested. Sometimes it lies in front of a workplace or a school instead.
Not every stone names a camp. Stones are also laid for people who survived, for example by fleeing or going into hiding. Families get stones side by side, so they are together again in front of their home. Each stone is for one person.
Camps and places named on stones
Stones name camps such as Auschwitz, Sobibor, Bergen-Belsen, Mauthausen, Theresienstadt, Dachau, Neuengamme, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, Ravensbrück, Westerbork and Vught. These were Nazi camps. Auschwitz and Sobibor were places of mass murder.
Westerbork in the Netherlands and Mechelen in Belgium were places from which deportations left. Such a name on a stone says where the person was taken, not where the stone lies.
Words on Dutch stones
Dutch stones use words such as these:
- gearresteerd: arrested
- gedeporteerd: deported
- ondergedoken: went into hiding
- vermoord: murdered
- overleden: died
Many people in the Netherlands call a Stolperstein a "struikelsteen", which means stumbling stone. To research a person further, see the links to archives. To see who is commemorated at an address, search the map by name, street or city.
Read on
Are there Stolpersteine for Sinti and Roma?
Yes. The first Stolperstein, laid in 1992, recalled the 1942 order to deport Sinti and Roma. Sinti and Roma are among the commemorated groups.
Stolpersteine for resistance members and political prisoners?
Yes. Stolpersteine commemorate people persecuted for political reasons and resistance members. Here is what the stones say and where to find them on the map.
Are there Stolpersteine for Jehovah's Witnesses?
Yes. Jehovah's Witnesses are among the groups persecuted by the Nazis that Stolpersteine commemorate. Here is how to find their stones on the map.
