Stumbling steps through history
The "Stumbling Stones" project group was formed in September 2009 when the scholarship holders of the 2009/2010 programme year of the Berlin scholarships of the "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future"Foundation (EVZ) met at an introductory seminar. During these days and in the weeks that followed, the profile of the project and the members who were interested in this work and willing to work together crystallised.
In the beginning, it was more about the stumbling blocks themselves than about the specific tasks, which had not yet been defined. The unifying element was the idea of the Stumbling Stones, which are a project by Cologne artist Gunter Demnig as a reminder and warning to the victims of National Socialism. The brass stones have been laid in front of former homes, workplaces or schools since the end of the 1990s, bearing the names and dates of birth, deportation and death of the victims. As objects embedded in the cityscape, the stones can also be overlooked, but when someone "stumbles" over them during their everyday walk, the historical events become present through the encounter of two individuals (the person stumbling and the person whose name is on the stone).
Memory only exists through the gradual visualisation of what has happened. With this conviction, the project group decided to commemorate former Jewish students of the former Friedrich Wilhelm University who had to overcome difficult obstacles because of their origins under National Socialism. Most of them were de-registered, a few were able to complete their studies with special permission, and in extreme cases, a dissertation had to be written within a few months. These students all became victims of the regime - they died in ghettos, concentration, extermination or internment camps, killing centres or chose suicide.
The aim of the project was to find out as much and as precise information as possible about these students. By reconstructing their biographies, the aim was to discover the faces and histories of these people. This "rediscovery" should be exactly the opposite of what happened in the mechanism of the Third Reich: a dehumanising process should be countered by targeted personification, thereby recalling human dignity.
Thanks to Dr Peter Nolte's many years of research, in November 2009 the project group received a list of over sixty names of students at Friedrich Wilhelm University who were victims of National Socialism. This list was the starting point for the research. After the first inquisitive, enthusiastic search in the online archive of Yad Vashem and after numerous internet searches, it became clear who of these people had already received a stumbling block in Germany and to whom a path could be found. With these initial clues, the actual work of discovery and reconstruction began. Fortunately, contact was made with family members who now live in Germany, Great Britain or Israel. This led to personal meetings and touching encounters both in Germany and in Israel. These conversations made a significant contribution to the detailed biographies of individual students. Thanks to the relatives, the research was also enriched with photos and personal letters.
Searching for different sources
Another way was to search for clues in various sources. An academic paper or biography had already been published about some of the people and those who had done this work agreed to help the project group with their findings and advice.
Various archives were also contacted, in which some elements of the biography were thought to be found. As a result, the project group organised an excursion to research the former concentration camp in Auschwitz, contacted the University Archives of the Humboldt University of Berlin, the Brandenburg State Archives, the Compensation Office and other archives throughout Germany, in Israel, Austria, Poland and Switzerland, and thoroughly researched the available documents and files.
The result of this complex work can be found on these pages. As you will see, these are very different biographies. Detailed information has been obtained on some people, especially those who are still living. But even in these biographies, there are always intervals that form gaps in the lives of those researched. This hard-to-fill void is particularly evident in the case of the five people about whom nothing could be found either in archives or through contacts. Only mentions or enumerations in various lists bear witness to their existence.
Contributors
The creation and implementation of this project would not have been possible without the support of the EVZ Foundation's scholarship programme and the preparatory work and help of many committed individuals. The proposal reached the scholarship holders through a former student employee of the HU, Judith Wiethoff, and the coordinators of the scholarship programme, Annett Peschel and Julia Wunderer. The project group would like to express its gratitude to the latter, who were an indispensable help both in the search for funding and in organisational matters. Our thanks for their support also go to the staff in the archives as well as the relatives and researchers.
The realisation of the project owes much to Constanze Richter, head of the Humboldt University's Anniversary Office. The project was embedded in the celebrations for the 200th anniversary and supported by the Humboldt University. This framework is particularly important to ensure that the reflective times in the history of science and the university are not forgotten, even in the midst of joyful remembrance.
This project commemorates those who must be lifted out of namelessness in order to be given a face. For, in the words of Theodor Adorno, perennial suffering has the right to expression.
//Verena Bunkus, Trudy Dahan, Sheer Ganor, Martin Hagmayr, Héla Hecker, Ewa Mi?kiewicz
Stolpersteine project group