Laying five stumbling blocks in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

Laying five stumbling blocks in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg

In June 2024, a total of five stumbling blocks will be laid in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district in Berlin. Stumbling blocks are small plaques that are reminiscent of people who have been persecuted by the National Socialists. District Mayor Clara Herrmann emphasizes the importance of these stumbling blocks, which now honor over 1,000 victims in the district. These memorial actions should serve to keep the memory of the victims awake and to set an example against anti -Semitism.

One of the relocations is planned for Selma Cyzner, who was born in Poland and moved to Berlin with her family and then wanted to emigrate to the United States due to the threat of the National Socialists. Unfortunately, because of their Polish citizenship, they were victims of the "pole campaign" and Selma and their husbands were deported to Auschwitz and murdered. The daughters could be saved.

Another relocation concerns Paul Cramer, who had a factory in Berlin, but was imprisoned due to political intrigues and finally committed suicide while his family survived.

at Kohlfurter Straße 46 is reminded of Hertha and Günter Graetz, who emigrated in Germany due to the increasing persecution, only to Amsterdam and then to Argentina, where they built up a new existence.

In Mühsamstraße 68, a stumbling block for Johanne Schäfer is laid, which was protected from the deportation by her “mixed marriage” and survived the war in Berlin.

The laying of stumbling blocks initiated by relatives has been financed by the district office since 2017. These memorial stones serve as a memory of the victims of National Socialism and are intended to set an example against forgetting. The exact dates and places of the relocations are listed in the press release and show how important it is to keep the memory of the darkest chapters awake.

Source: www.berlin.de