Yes. Sinti and Roma are among the groups commemorated with Stolpersteine. The very first stone, laid in 1992, recalled the 1942 order to deport Sinti and Roma to Auschwitz. This article describes that stone and the groups that are commemorated.
The first stone
Gunter Demnig, a German artist born in Berlin in 1947, had the idea for Stolpersteine in 1992. On 16 December 1992 he set a first stone in front of Cologne's historic town hall. The stone recalls the 1942 order to deport Sinti and Roma to Auschwitz.
The first Stolpersteine for individual people were laid in Cologne in 1995. Stolperstein is German for stumbling stone. The project is often called the largest decentralised memorial in the world.
Stones lie in about 30 European countries, and there are more than 100,000 of them. The first Stolpersteine in the Netherlands were laid in Borne in 2007, and in Belgium in 2009.
Who is commemorated
Stolpersteine commemorate people persecuted by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945. The groups include Jews, Sinti and Roma, people persecuted for political reasons and resistance members, homosexual men, Jehovah's Witnesses, victims of the "euthanasia" murders of sick and disabled people, forced labourers, deserters and conscientious objectors, and others.
Stones are also laid for people who survived, for example by fleeing or going into hiding, so that families are shown complete.
Demnig often quotes a saying from the Talmud: a person is only forgotten when his or her name is forgotten.
Words on German stones
German stones use words such as these:
- Jg.: Jahrgang, the year of birth
- deportiert: deported
- ermordet: murdered
- verhaftet: arrested
- überlebt: survived
Researching a person
Each stone is for one person. A stone lies in front of the last home the person chose freely, or sometimes in front of a workplace or school. On the map you can search by name, street or city, and see who is commemorated at an address. For research on a person, see the links to archives, including Yad Vashem and the Arolsen Archives.
To look for a stone at an address, search the map by name, street or city.
Read on
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.
Are there Stolpersteine for men persecuted as homosexuals?
Yes. Stolpersteine commemorate homosexual men persecuted by the Nazis. Here is how the stones look, where they lie and how to find them on the map.
