In September 2025, nineteen descendants of the Heilbrunn and Rothschild families travelled to Sontra, Germany. They were related by blood or marriage. Sontra was the town our ancestors once called home.

We went to honour ten family members whose lives were irrevocably altered by the Holocaust. Standing on the streets where they once lived, we laid ten stolpersteine (stumbling stones) in front of two ancestral homes. In doing so, we returned their names to the places from which they were forced to flee.

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This gathering was more than a ceremony. It was a return to memory, to history, and to one another. Over several days, we walked the town, visited schools, cemeteries, and synagogues, and shared stories across generations. What emerged was a profound sense of connection between past and present, and a renewed understanding that remembrance is not only about what was lost, but about what endures. 

This website preserves that journey for our family today, and for future generations.
 

The History of the Jews of Sontra and surrounding districts.

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"Exploring our family heritage is like opening a treasure chest of knowledge and understanding. It allows us to appreciate the struggles and triumphs of those who came before us and helps us discover our own place in the grand narrative of history." - Steven Spielberg (1946 - )