"Here lived..." - Stumbling stones commemorate victims of National Socialism
16 Stolpersteine have been laid in Chemnitz - Initiator Günter Demnig, sponsors of the Stolpersteine, family members and friends of the victims as well as other interested parties took part in the laying ceremony
Today, three stumbling stones in front of Hoffmannstraße 52 commemorate the fate of the Goeritz family. They once lived here. They were expelled from the city by the National Socialists because of their Jewish roots. Ingrid Mössinger recalled the fate of those persecuted, such as the Goeritz family of entrepreneurs who were interested in art: "The Stolpersteine are a form of commemoration that unexpectedly and accidentally attract the attention of many people. Their shiny surfaces push their way to the surface like precious stones and remind us of thousands of valuable people whose lives were extinguished. Alongside the centralised anonymous memorials, such as the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, the Stolpersteine remind us of each individual at their last place of residence." You and the staff of the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz have taken on the sponsorship of the three stones.
Karl Goeritz (1900-1939) and his children Frank-Stefan (1932 - 1939) and Irene Beatrice (1938 - 1939) drowned during the crossing to Chile when the MS Simon Bolivar hit a minefield and sank.
16 Stumbling Stones were laid at nine locations in Chemnitz today. Initiator and artist Günter Demnig was on site to lay the first stones. They commemorate the fate of people who were murdered, deported, expelled or driven to suicide during the Hitler fascist era.
For example, Hugo Sussmann (1881 - 1944) was arrested because he did not comply with the Nazi ban on Jews entering certain tram compartments. He was arrested in Chemnitz in 1944 and deported to Auschwitz. He was murdered there on 12 August 1944. Stumbling stones in his memory and that of his son Julius Sussmann (1922 - 1940), who became lonely after fleeing to Amsterdam and committed suicide, commemorate these unjust events at Kopernikusstraße 16. The zebra advertising agency, which today has its headquarters at the former home of the Sussmanns, is the sponsor of these stumbling stones.
The Georgius Agricola Grammar School has taken over the sponsorship of the Lachmann family's Stumbling Stones at Brückestraße 14. Dr Alfred Lachmann (born 1889) was taken into "protective custody" in Buchenwald in 1938 and deported and murdered on 13 July 1942. His wife Helene Lachmann (born 1890) met the same fate. She was deported with over 1000 Jews from central Germany to the Belzyce ghetto on 10 May 1942 and murdered. Their son Werner Konrad Lachmann (born 1924) had moved to Berlin in 1939 and was deported from there to Auschwitz on 29 January 1943 and murdered. Pupils from the Georgius Agricola Grammar School organised the programme during the laying of the stumbling blocks. They had collected donations for a stumbling block in advance with a cake bazaar. The second stumbling block was financed by the school's teaching staff.
Other victims were commemorated at this year's ceremony: David Leib Nachmann (1882 - 1942), Hanni Nachmann (1922 - 1945), Avram Avramovici (1885 - 1945), Alta Basia Avramovici (1889 - 1945), Ludwig Kohn (1878 - 1943), Dagobert Culp (1882 - 1940), Rosa Brudner (1884 - 1942) and Anna Neubert (1885 - 1940)
Several working groups have been working on the Stolpersteine since this year. Under the direction of Brücke e. V., schoolchildren and senior citizens have been searching for clues about the life stories of the people commemorated by the stumbling blocks. Participants come, for example, from Georgius Agricola Grammar School, Dr Wilhelm André Grammar School, the Sonnenberg History Working Group and Senvital. The project work is funded by the Local Action Plan for Democracy, Tolerance and a Cosmopolitan Chemnitz.
All stumbling blocks and further information can be found at
Information about the project:
The idea and the concept of the "Stolpersteine" originate from the Cologne sculptor Gunter Demnig. The "Stumbling Stones" honour citizens who were victims of the National Socialist regime. The aim is to commemorate the fate of people who were murdered, deported, expelled or driven to suicide during the Hitler fascist era. The 10 x 10 cm Stumbling Stones are set into the pavement in front of the house where the people to be honoured had their last address. The victims' names and dates of death are engraved on the brass plate of the concrete stones. According to Gunter Demnig, anyone who sees them as they pass by should stumble over them in their mind, pause for a moment and read the engraving.
In Chemnitz, the Chemnitz City Association of the Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime / League of Anti-Fascists suggested the laying of Stumbling Stones in Chemnitz in November 2005. He found support from the city administration and the city council. The costs for the production and laying of a stone are covered by a sponsor.
The first laying of seven Stolpersteine in Chemnitz took place on 6 July 2007. The following year, six stones were laid on 7 October 2008 and another six on 7 April 2009. Last year, 14 Stolpersteine were laid in Chemnitz on 7 June 2010, and on 18 October and 19 October 2011, 15 more Stolpersteine were laid in memory of citizens who once lived in Chemnitz and were persecuted and murdered by the National Socialists. As the project's sponsor, the association is responsible for the content of the work, is the point of contact for suggestions of people to be honoured and looks after the sponsors. The city of Chemnitz supports the project: the organisational preparations and the laying of the memorial stones are coordinated by a project group of the city administration under the patronage of Lord Mayor Barbara Ludwig. With the stones laid on 2 November, a total of 64 of these special, cautionary signs of remembrance will commemorate the tragic fates of their namesakes in Chemnitz.