Stumbling Stones-Stolpersteine

 

The first Stumbling Stones – Stolpersteine were created by Berlin artist Gunter Demnig in 1995 and were placed in the streets of Cologne and Berlin.
Brussels followed seven years later. The stones tell passers-by and soon visitors to the museum about the drama of deportation and collaboration in the heart of Brussels.

As part of the work to redesign the museum project and the desire to put the people of Brussels at the heart of its new itinerary, the City Museum contacted the Association for the Memory of the Shoah. It is imperative for a city history museum to exhibit pieces related to the darkest hours of its history. On the one hand, to raise awareness of the duty of remembrance and on the other hand, to participate in the essential fight against the rise of xenophobic and racist movements.

Deeply touched, the Association for the Memory of the Shoah offered to donate two Stumbling Stones-Stolpersteine in addition to the one that the museum acquired. Informed of the approach, the artist Gunter Demnig also wanted to donate two and deposit the five, in person, at the museum. This is a first!

  • Located at rue des Tanneurs 41, the first Stumbling Stone-Stolpersteine pays tribute to Herschel Grynszpan (1921-1945?), who stayed in Brussels between 1936 and 1937. On November 6, 1938, the man shot Ernst vom Rath, Hitler’s first-class advisor. The latter used this attack as a pretext to launch operations against the Jews of Germany that led to Kristallnacht.
  • The second and third Stumbling Stones-Stolpersteine were the first to be laid in Brussels, on May 11, 2009, at rue Jorez 47 in 1070 Anderlecht. At this address, Berek and Pesa Swiatlowski were arrested and deported in 1942. These two Stumbling Stones-Stolperstein kept them united.
  • Finally, the Stumbling Stones-Stolpersteine of Eugène Toussaint and Léonie Toussaint-Bellon, Brussels resistance fighters living in Jette, were offered by the artist. Eugène was assassinated in Germany in 1944. His wife, incarcerated in the Saint-Gilles prison, was released. These Pavés are an example of the desire to honor resistance fighters, other victims of Nazism.

Demnig, G, Stumbling stones-Stolpersteine, 2024 © M.Labey