Artist Gunter Demnig has installed small Holocaust memorial stones in Berlin for 30 years, placing palm-sized brass plaques called Stolpersteine, or "stumbling blocks," in sidewalks to honor victims of the Nazi regime, creating a decentralized memorial that brings the names and fates of murdered individuals back to the streets where they once lived. The plaques serve as reminders of those who perished, and there are now more than 11,000 in Berlin and more than 126,000 stones across Europe.
Demnig installed the first plaque in the German capital three decades ago, and the first stone was installed in 1992 in the western German city of Cologne. On a busy street corner in Berlin, Demnig carefully placed a brass plaque that read: "Johanna Berger, born in 1893, lived here; deported on Nov. 17, 1941, murdered on Nov. 25, 1941." After Demnig swiped the sand off Berger's memorial stone and those for her husband and two sons, a dozen relatives drew closer around the four plaques, put down white roses and recited the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, while traffic roared by on a rainy spring day.
A Memorial for Those Without Graves
The 78-year-old German artist said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday: "My basic idea behind this was that wherever in Europe the German Wehrmacht, the SS, the Gestapo, and their local collaborators committed murders or carried out deportations, symbolic stones should be placed there."
Jewish family members often travel from all over the world to attend the stonelaying ceremonies because many of the victims were gassed in the Nazis' concentration camps and these memorial stones are the closest thing to a grave or a burial. Michael Tischler, the 72-year-old Berliner and grandnephew of Berger who perished in the Holocaust like several other members of his family, said: "The Stolpersteine are some kind of substitute for the missing gravestones." He said: "I think this brings the family history to a certain conclusion, or at least a provisional one."
Grassroots Movement Reclaims History
The memorial stones have also created a grassroots movement that brings together neighborhood initiatives, schools or religious communities to research the history of their city. Together, old and young browse through archives and check timeworn resident lists to find out if any Jews or others who were persecuted during the Third Reich — such as communists, gays or Roma — used to live in the streets or even homes where they live today. Once they can confirm a victim's former place of residence, they arrange for a stonelaying ceremony and make sure the brass plaque is polished periodically, so it won't lose its shine.
On Wednesday, several 10th graders from the Friedrich-Bergius-Schule attended another Berlin stonelaying ceremony on Stierstraße, where many Jews used to live. Demnig's three new stones for the Krein family — Michael, his wife Maria and their daughter Dalila — brought the number of Stolpersteine to 62 on this street. While Maria and Dalila managed to escape to the U.S. and British-controlled Palestinian territory, respectively, Michael, a musician, died in Berlin in 1940 as a forced laborer under the Nazis.
High school student Sibilla Ehrlich, 16, watched as a group of violinists played solemn melodies and some elderly neighbors talked about the lives of the three Jews under Nazi dictatorship. She said: "It is just so horrible, all this the hatred of others," and "I keep thinking: what if this had been my family."
Confronting Rising Antisemitism
Before the Holocaust, Berlin had the biggest Jewish community in Germany. In 1933, the year the Nazis came to power, around 160,500 Jews lived in Berlin. By the time World War II ended and Nazi Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945, their numbers had diminished to about 7,000 through emigration and extermination. All in all, around 6 million European Jews and others were killed in the Holocaust.
As Germany commemorates the Allied liberation from the Nazis 81 years ago on Friday, many people in Germany fear that the lessons of the Holocaust may be forgotten as the far right is quickly gaining influence in Germany again. Tischler said he worries about his country's future in times of rising antisemitism, but he said the memorial stones offer a glimpse of hope. "I hope that these Stolpersteine will still give some people pause for thought," he said.
Why This Matters:
The Stolpersteine project represents a critical act of collective remembrance at a moment when rising far-right influence and antisemitism threaten to erase the lessons of the Holocaust. By placing memorial stones in the sidewalks where victims once lived, the initiative makes the history of Nazi persecution impossible to ignore, forcing passersby to confront the human cost of hatred in their own neighborhoods. The grassroots movement involving schools, religious communities, and neighborhood initiatives ensures that younger generations learn about the individuals who were deported and murdered, creating an ongoing educational process that counters historical amnesia. For families of Holocaust victims who were gassed in concentration camps without proper burials, these stones provide the only physical memorial to their loved ones. The project's inclusion of not only Jews but also communists, gays, and Roma acknowledges the full scope of Nazi persecution and reminds communities that targeted violence against marginalized groups requires constant vigilance and active resistance from democratic institutions and civil society.