Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In the UK, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has chosen the theme of ordinary people, because the victims, perpetrators, bystanders and rescuers were, after all, ordinary people like us.
This photo is of the stolperstein in Golden Square, London. Stolpersteine ("stumbling stones") are small brass plaques set into the ground to commemorate the ordinary people who were murdered by the Nazis. They were created by the artist Gunter Demnig, and they can be found in 1200 locations around the world. The stolpersteine usually mark the victim's last workplace or residence of choice.
The only stolperstein in the UK is dedicated to Ada van Dantzig, a young Dutch woman who came to London and worked as a paintings conservator in a private studio in Golden Square. When the war began, Ada returned to her family in the Netherlands, but they were captured and she was murdered in Auschwitz, along with her parents, sister and brother. The stone reads:
Here worked
Ada Van Dantzig
Born 1918
Arrested 1943
France
Interned Drancy
Deported
Auschwitz
Murdered 14.2.1943
Never forget.
Ada van Dantzig
https://www.ukholocaustmap.org.uk/map/records/stolperstein-for-ada-van-dantzig
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
https://www.ushmm.org/remember/international-holocaust-remembrance-day
Holocaust Memorial Day - Ordinary People
https://www.hmd.org.uk/what-is-holocaust-memorial-day/this-years-theme/
@princessicajessica thanks Jessica - I hadn't known about stolpersteine until the UK got its first and only one last year. I'll be certain to look out for them on my travels.
January 29th, 2023
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