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STOLPERSTEINE (STUMBLING STONES)

The Ceremony

Stolpersteine (German for “stumbling stones”) are small brass-capped memorial cobblestones (10x10cm) installed in sidewalks across Europe and beyond.

 

The purpose of stolpersteine is to bring memory to those persons whose lives were dramatically changed by the Nazis by placing each stone outside the last freely chosen residence of the victim. The stolpersteine encourages passersby to stop, look down and remember a specific individual.

 

Each stone is placed with permission of local authorities, and the property owners and often sponsored by families, schools, local council or community groups. On 1st September 2025, seven stones were laid outside the Heilbrunn House (Bahnhof Str 7, Sontra) in memory of certain individuals who lived there and as Jews were forced to flee Nazi Germany.
 

The ceremony was well publicized in the local newspaper and was attended by an estimated 120 people plus the family members.
 

Prior to the stones being laid the locals sang somber German songs accompanied by a brass band. 

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Emotional speeches were made by: 

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Importantly and with great meaning, students from the Adam von Trott Schule were involved in the dedication ceremony. Each family member’s name was read aloud by a student, along with a personal biography including the person’s date of birth and the date they departed Sontra. A laminated photograph and a white rose were placed beside the corresponding Stolperstein, honoring each life remembered.

Stolpersteine were also laid outside Niederstadt 22 to honour 3 members of the Rothschild/Heilbrunn family who had lived there. A speech was made by Brian Luber honouring his grandparents and mother. 

HERE LIVED
HERMANN ROTHSCHILD
BORN 1880
FLED 1934 HOLLAND
INTERNED WESTERBORK
DEPORTED 1944
KZ BERGEN-BELSEN
MURDERED 5.2.1945

HERE LIVED
META ROTHSCHILD
NEE HEILBRUNN
BORN 1885
FLED 1934 HOLLAND
INTERNED WESTERBORK
DEPORTED 1944
KZ BERGEN-BELSEN
"LOST TRAIN"
DIED 1.5.1945 TRÖBITZ

HERE LIVED
GRETL ROTHSCHILD
BORN 1821
FLED 1934 HOLLAND
INTERNED WESTERBORK
DEPORTED 1944
KZ BERGEN-BELSEN
"LOST TRAIN"
SURVIVED

We were honoured to have Mr. Gunter Demnig himself at the ceremony. Mr. Demnig is a German artist and is the founder of the Stolpersteine Project. He told Milton that there are now over 127,000 stolpersteine laid across Europe.  
 

Stolpersteine have been laid in approximately 2,000 municipalities and over 30 countries. This makes the Stolpersteine Project the largest decentralized memorial in the world.

SPECIAL THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 

  • My event co-organizer Brian Luber whose contribution in the planning was invaluable to the success of the Heilbrunn/Rothschild stolpersteine project.
     

  • The 17 other family members who travelled to Sontra specially for the occasion. Our presence added to the importance and meaningfulness of the Stolpersteine project for the Sontra Community.  
     

  •  Lea Schellhase who turned her idea into reality. 
     

  • Ludger Arnold whose involvement and drive at all levels made it possible.  
     

  • Mayor Thomas Eckhardt and his Town Council members for their support.
     

  • School Principal Oliver Methe, assisted by Petra Dürholt the student preparation mentor, for involving the teachers and school children. Under his leadership the horrors of the holocaust and the importance of the stolpersteine in the town will be remembered.

  • All the local sponsors who funded the cost of the stolpersteine and the ceremony. Special mention to the children of the Adam von Trott School who raised the funds to pay for 1 stone by having a waffle sale. 
     

  • Eden Sophie Rimbach, the journalist, who published articles in the local newspaper creating an awareness and understanding in the town of the important event.
     

  • To the brass band and the attendees of the local population whose singing contributed to the solemnity of the occasion.
     

  •  Last, but by no means least Mr. Gunter Demnig – the founder of the stolpersteine concept – for his personal attendance which in itself made the event that much more meaningful and memorable. Mr. Demnig is a hero and deserves special recognition by the global Jewish population.
     

 “We must make sure that the conscience of the world is so aroused that never again will we permit such things to occur.” 
US President Harry S. Truman - On the liberation of the camps, 1945

“Memory is humanity’s defense against the repetition of evil.”  
US President George H. W. Bush - Speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1991.

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