Kashi Behrstock speaking, daughter Ela on left: Photo Klaus Fesche

“Wunstorf is also now free of Jews” the local Nazi-boss and Mayor declared in a letter to “all the soldiers from our lovely Wunstorf” in 1942. Decades after, a group of citizens committed themselves to individual memorials to the victims of Nazism in this small town in Germany by laying “Stolpersteine – stumbling stones. https://www.wunstorf.de/WunstorferStolpersteine One of this group, Hans Hanebuth tracked down descendants of Elfriede and Emil Kraft, two of the 60 neighbours, deported and murdered. On 18 March, 2026, Kashi Behrstock and her daughter Ela from New York took part in the second laying of Stolpersteine together with more than 100 other Wunstorfers. For us (Margo and Schorse) their speeches were a celebration of hope and connection that inspire us to look beyond the horrors of the past and face the fears of today. Kashi and Ela’s words stress “the humanity that ties us all together”. This is what they shared with us:

Kashi: “… I still remember the day I got the letter from Hans, someone who I did not know, from a town I had not heard of, expressing his goal of looking for Emil and Elfriede’s family.  These names were unfamiliar to me, but from his description of the genealogy they were clearly my great grandparents. To be introduced to my maternal ancestors as a 50-year-old is quite remarkable. Hans gave me knowledge that had been lost and buried from fear. To protect us from the horrors of the Holocaust, I did not know anything about this side of the family, and I think neither did my mom who had emigrated to the United States in 1939 when she was three years old.

Having dug through archives and searched for local documents, Hans shared historical information about my family and their history which had been lost to us. I read every word that Hans sends with concentration and it leaves me with a sense of warmth and connection. The role that Emil and Elfriede played in Wunstorf, the generosity that they demonstrated, the morality with which they lived, the distinguished citizen s that they were: he was an elected Senator and she opened the town’s first kindergarten. All this I found incredible and endearing to learn. Even though the exact details of the past were unknown to me, much of their philosophy of caring for humanity was passed on. Although I did not know the details of this family history, what I found incredible was that when I was reading it, it was both unknown and known to me at the same time. A long lost past being reunited with the present.

I want to know every little detail of Emil and Elfriede, and their children Julius and Flora.  It is a difficult history, but also contains much light. I am filled with hope and comfort from being here and from the knowledge that this town has done so much to retain the stories and honor the Jews that lived here. We all have our unique upbringing and life paths, but humanity ties us all together. 

Words can not express the gratitude that I and my family feel. Both my mom Yvonne, my brother Hari, my older daughter Kaia and other members of my family wish to send their gratitude. They would be here today if they could. I want to thank my husband Jason and daughter Ela for joining me here today. Ela, my younger daughter, would like to express her thoughts directly to you.”

Kashi also paid special tribute to the research of Hans Hanebuth and to the warmth and hospitality of Hans, Andrea, Signe-Lou Hanebuth.

The words of her daughter Ela Behrstock give us hope for the future:  “I am the great-great-granddaughter of Emil and Elfriede Kraft. While their concrete stories were never told to me, learning about them has felt more like recalling a long lost memory than meeting them for the first time. I never really understood the importance of knowing our ancestors, however uncovering these facts and anecdotes of the Kraft’s has given me a larger understanding of my grandma, my mom, and myself, for which I am eternally grateful. Going forward, it warms me to know I will carry Emil’s thirst for knowledge, Elfriede’s relentless kindness, and their shared spirit of equality. I wish more than anything they know the energy they put into the world has shaped the next four generations of Krafts, and will continue to impact the world for the better. And, if Emil and Elfriede can hear me, thank you for your persistence through the most difficult of times, your perseverance inspires me every day.”

Hier ist die Übersetzung ins Deutsche (von Hanebuth):
Stolpersteine Wunstorf 18. März 2026 (PDF)

Here you find a good article in the local newspaper (Leinezeitung vom 20.03.2026):
Von New York nach Wunstorf (PDF)

See our blog from November 2024 for more on stumbling stones/Stolpersteine:
Stumbling stones

https://londongrip.co.uk/2026/01/london-grip-poetry-review-nora-hughes/

Thanks to Chris Beckett for such a sensitive review which highlights the “emotional legacy” of Nora’s life in Belfast and how “wherever the poet goes, her Belfast girlhood and its landscape remain at her side, sometimes as a loneliness, a ‘hunger in the heart’ from the Irish word Cumha (in a beautiful poem of the same name) “

Between the River and the Sea

“The complexity I’ve lived with all my life has forced me to be alone with my position. If I’m already alone anyway, why not be alone in front of an audience.” Yousef Smeid, born in Haifa, a Palestinian Israeli actor “seeks to understand how to navigate the world where he always finds himself ‘in between”. The one-man show Between the river and the Sea written with Isabella Sedlack and performed in the Maxim Gorki Theater Berlin “is a heartfelt plea for sharing unheard stories and for listening”.  www.gorki.de/en/between-the-river-and-the-sea. When we saw Between the River and the Sea, we wanted to share the experience with you because it challenges polarisation.

To-day’s Palestinians and Israelis who strive to resolve the havoc created by centuries of oppression are an inspiration for our common humanity. Parents of the children of Palestinians and Israelis killed in the conflict help each other in the Parents Circle Families Forum.  https://www.theparentscircle.org  Journalists risk their lives to present what is happening on the ground (+972 Magazine – https://www.972mag.com ). Standing Together is a grass-roots movement of Israelis and Palestinians which seeks equality with “social, economic and environmental justice” for everyone. They work together to set up community centres, to challenge settler violence in the West Bank, and help humanitarian aid to Gaza. (https://www.standing-together.org ).

For centuries empires and dynasties have moved boundaries and renamed territory in Palestine and Israel. The Roman Empire finally defeated rebellions of the Jews between 132-136 intensifying the Jewish diaspora.  The Ottoman Empire held power for hundreds of years. When the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War 1, the British obtained a mandate from the League of Nations in 1922 which included the aim of the Balfour declaration to establish “a national home for the Jewish people” alongside the Palestinian Arabs. The Mandate ended in 1948.  (source Wikipedia). The legacy of fragmentation, polarisation and fear of the last century leaves space for exploitation by to-day’s oligarchs, dynasties, terrorists, fundamentalists and magnates.

The foundations of a lasting peace depend on resisting exploitation and polarisation. How can we best support the people in Palestine and Israel and their diasporas in local communities everywhere to find the space “in between”? Yousef Sweid is a graduate in theatre studies from Tel Aviv University who now lives in Berlin. His exuberance and humor brings past history and the unbearable present into our lives. For more about his extensive experience – see Wikipedia.  We want to see more performances of Between the Rivers and the Sea in Ireland and England.  Contact the director/author Isabella Sedlack: mail@isabellasedlak.com

Photo: Esra Rotthoff

German version see below / Deutsche Fassung unten

80 years ago: my granddad arrived back home after a year as prisoner of war in Russia. Hermann Meuter, born in February 1907 in Steinhude, passed away in March 1977 in Steinhude –       a simple life?

Opa in 1970

In November 1930 he and Dora, ne Engelmann (1902 – 1978 in Steinhude) get married

Between 1931 and 1938 four children (Margreth, Dörchen, Hermann and Gerhard) were born.

In November 1943 he was conscripted. Dora and the four children rush to the photographer, to get a photo for him as a reminder of the family. See below:

He is very lucky: he survives and is released in autumn 1945, after just 1 year. (Many men died in the camps, and the last survivors were released in 1955 – 10 years after the end of the war.)

From Wunstorf he starts to walk towards Steinhude through the local wood, where a Steinhuder with horse and cart pick him up. A neighbour runs ahead towards home where the family is producing sugar beet syrup and shouts: “Dora, Hermann comes!” Another neighbour takes over, so that Dora can welcome him.

The next day, Repentance and Prayer Day November 21^st 1945, they both go to church. It was their 15th wedding anniversary. Opa is wearing a top hat, Oma is dressed all in black.

He is 38 years old, has been married for 15 years, they have got 4 children, he had been in the war – and all of them survived. What a great piece of luck!

Later he worked at a huge railway yard. They saved hard. In 1960 they could build their own house. It was fully built with a basement. Opa excavated it himself. One of his sons had become a carpenter, the other one a bricklayer. My father was the handyman. The house was built after work and during the week-ends.

My parents and I lived in that house with Oma and Opa for his last two years of his life. He wanted to reach 70. He just made it.

Vor 80 Jahren: mein Opa kommt nach nur einem Jahr in russischer Kriegsgefangenschaft nach Hause

Hermann Meuter, geboren im Februar 1907 in Steinhude, gestorben im März 1977 in Steinhude – ein einfaches Leben? Im November 1930 heiraten er und Dora, geborene Engelmann (1902 – 1978 in Steinhude). Sie bekommen vier Kinder (Margreth, Dörchen, Hermann und Gerhard) zwischen 1931 und 1938.

Im November 1943 muss er doch noch Soldat werden. Dora geht mit den 4 Kindern zum Photographen, um ihm ein Foto zum Andenken mitgeben zu können.1944 kommt er an die Ostfront. Dort gerät er bald in russische Kriegsgefangenschaft. Es gibt sehr wenig zu essen. Die Männer hungern. Sie erzählen sich gegenseitig, was sie jetzt gerne essen möchten. Opa: „Braunkohl mit Bratkartoffeln“ (Das hat er später sehr gut und auch für mich gekocht.)

Er hat großes Glück, denn er überlebt und kommt im Herbst 1945, nach nur 1 Jahr in Gefangenschaft, frei. (Viele Männer starben in den Lagern, und die letzten Überlebenden wurden 1955, 10 Jahre nach Ende des Krieges, freigelassen.)

Von Wunstorf aus geht er durch das Hohe Holz und wird schließlich von einem Steinhuder Fuhrwerk mitgenommen. Eine Nachbarin läuft voraus zum Haus, wo gerade Stips gekocht wird: „Dora, Hermann kommt!“ Eine andere Nachbarin macht den Stips weiter, damit Oma ihm entgegen gehen kann.

Am nächsten Tag, Buß- und Bettag am 21.11.1945, gehen beide in die Kirche. Es war auch ihr 15. Hochzeitstag. Opa mit Zylinder, Oma ganz in Schwarz.

Er ist 38 Jahre alt, 15 Jahre verheiratet, sie haben 4 Kinder, er war im Krieg – und alle haben überlebt. Welch ein Glück!

Opa hat später auf einem großen Rangierbahnhof gearbeitet. Sie haben viel gespart. 1960 konnten sie ein eigenes Haus bauen. Es war voll unterkellert, und Opa hat die Baugrube mit der Schaufel ausgeschachtet. Ein Sohn war Zimmermann, der andere Maurer, mein Vater war Handlanger. Das Haus wurde nach Feierabend und am Wochenende gebaut.

Die letzten zwei Jahre seines Lebens wohnte ich mit meinen Eltern bei Opa und Oma mit im Haus. Er wollte gern 70 Jahre alt werden. Das hat er knapp geschafft.

Hgr, 21.11.25

Connections between Irish nuns in WW II resistance and the work of Standing Together

On Thursday 24^th of April citizens from Berlin and Donegal gathered in the community hall at the Franciscan Friary in Rossnowlagh, Donegal to commemorate 5 Irish women who were in the resistance against the nazis in World War II. These women were betrayed and imprisoned in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women. Four of them were liberated by the Red Cross exactly 80 years ago, at the end of April 1945 (together with 7,500 other women.

There was a unique mix of music, literature and poetry. La Voix mixte travelled  from Berlin to perform at this event and a choral evening with the Donegal Abbey Singers in Donegal town on the 25^th April. These choirs sang for peace and justice and their repertoire included an original composition to the words of Seamus Heaney on Hope and History by Uta Schlegel. Cathy Fleming read from her biography of Sister Kate Mc Carthy.  Winifred Mc Nulty, Donegal poet, read some information about Catherine Crean, Sister Kate Mc Carthy, Sister Agnes Flanagan Mary O’ Shaughnessy, and Mary Cummins whose names and details can now be found on the Irish Embassy website following a similar event in the Irish Embassy in Berlin. Margo Gorman shared her thoughts about the connection between these women and the struggles of ordinary people in Israel and Palestine for peace and justice today. www.standing-together.org.

Why commemorate 5 women out of the millions who had suffered during these times?

They were living and working as nuns, nannies and nurses in France or Belgium at the time of the invasion of the German troops. Ordinary people like us, the crowd in the hall in Rossnowlagh. They wanted to do something and used their skills and abilities to help Allied soldiers to get out of the occupied territory. In doing so they risked their own lives.

We are living in times of disruption, destruction and polarization. We often feel alone and powerless in regard to what is happening in the world and around us. Faced with despair and chaos, we need communication and connection between ordinary people like us and a sense of good things we can do.

Margo Gorman and Hans-Georg Rennert, an Irish-German couple (both with a background in Community work) and the main organizers of the event last Thursday are impressed by the work of Standing Together, a grassroots initiative that mobilizes Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the war and occupation, advocating FOR peace, equality and social justice. As Helen Yakoub, a 29 years old Palestinian activist says: “It turns fear into clarity, anger into action, loneliness into something communal.”

Margo and Hans-Georg invited the attendees to donate for the work of Standing Together. 350 Euros were collected and donated to Standing Together. As the organisation writes (in a newsletter dating from 11^th April): “Hope is not something we wait for, hope is something we build through collective action.” #gazaceasfuew #human rights

Margo Gorman and Hans-Georg Rennert, 27^th April 2025

Everyday Resistance: Jehovah’s Witnesses

The commemoration in the Irish Embassy  for the Irish women imprisoned in Ravensbrück Concentration camp (KZ) celebrated the 80^th Anniversary of liberation.  A special performance of the Berlin choir, La Voix Mixte was a reminder of the many Germans who also lost their lives or were forced to leave their homeland  under Nazi persecution. Nazi polarisation into Us and Them categorised people by coloured triangles or stars which abused diversity to undermine our sense of common humanity.

In my novel Bone and Blood, Brigid, has a “guardian angel” who helps her survive in the form of Anna, a German Bibelforscherin/ Jehovah’s Witness who is also imprisoned in the camp. On her death, Anna passed her tin can for collecting the ration of turnip soup on to Brigid. Brigid finally breaks her silence about the horrors she survived, when she shares her experience with Aisling, the young Celtic Tiger Dubliner, who turns up for the funeral of Brigid’s daughter who has died of cancer. In the novel Bone and Blood, the tin can became a symbol of hope and solidarity between generations. Fiction provided a voice for ordinary people who sought unity in diversity.

“Many examples of resistance by ordinary people are not widely known or recognised,” says Hans-Georg Rennert, who worked in community development in “Sprengelkiez” in Berlin for 30 years. Widerstand 1933-1945 Wedding and Gesundbrunnen  by Han-Rainer Sandvoss (Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand 2002) gives an account of the many forms of German resistance against the Nazis by groups and individuals in the borough of Wedding . One example is Otto Teufert, who lived locally and was imprisoned because he spread flyers for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Hans-Rainer Sandvoss records the 25000 Jehovah’s Witnesses who lived in Germany 1933 to 1945, 10000 of them were imprisoned and 1400 lost/gave their lives. Their refusal to accept Hitler and give the Hitler salute  plus their  international connections were seen as a major threat. Their meetings were banned.  300 were sentenced to death for their refusal to join the army. Despite this they  organised in secret and spread leaflets against the Nazi regime in secret.

Women in Ravensbrück set up exchanges between languages and cultures, which they called the “European Union”. They remind us of the mix of everyday actions and international solidarity which helped defeat fascism. Do creativity, culture and everyday resistance have a place in countering the new Reichs of to-day?

The memorial plaque in Tegeler Straße 15, 13353 Berlin

Marie Burde – Lumpensammlerin und Lebensretterin

Marie Burde – Rag collector and life saver

During my time as community worker in the Sprengelkiez- a neighbourhood in Berlin Wedding, thematic walks through the Kiez (Kiezspaziergänge) were an essential part of that work (see for example Spurensuche Kolonialer Sprengelkiez). Amongst other topics we commemorated local people who were in the resistance against the Nazis. In the Kiez you can find memorial plaques for Marie Burde, Kurt Schumacher und Kurt Steffelbauer. In this text I want to highlight Marie Burde, who risked her life when helping three persecuted fellow human beings to survive: the brothers Alfred and Rolf Joseph and their friend Arthur Fordanski. All three Berlin Jews faced the threat of deportation and death. She hid the three young men from 1943 to 1945 first in her cellar “apartment” (one room!) and later in a shed in her allotment – more than two years of extreme danger to herself for “favouring Jews” (Judenbegünstigung). What an admirable act – would I have done the same in a situation like hers?

Bei meiner Stadtteilarbeit im Weddinger Sprengelkiez waren Kiezspaziergänge zu verschiedensten Themen ein wichtiger Bestandteil (siehe z.B. Spurensuche Kolonialer Sprengelkiez). Dabei haben wir u. a: an Menschen erinnert, die Widerstand gegen die Nazis geleistet haben. Im Kiez sind dazu Gedenktafeln für Marie Burde, Kurt Schumacher und Kurt Steffelbauer zu finden. Ich möchte an dieser Stelle an Marie Burde erinnern, die ihr Leben riskierte, um drei verfolgten Mitmenschen das Überleben zu sichern: den Brüdern Alfred und Rolf Joseph sowie deren Freund Arthur Fordanski. Alle drei Berliner Juden, denen die Deportation in den Tod drohte. Sie versteckte die drei jungen Männer von 1943 bis 1945 – zunächst in ihrer Keller“wohnung“ (1 Zimmer!), dann in einer Gartenlaube. Über zwei Jahre in größter Gefahr – auch für ihr eigenes Leben wegen „Judenbegünstigung“. Welch eine bewundernswerte Tat – hätte ich mich in einer ähnlichen Situation auch so verhalten?

Beim Kiezspaziergang „Haltung zeigen“ im März 2022 im Rahmen der Internationalen Wochen gegen Rassismus

On the walk through the neighbourhood in March 2022 as part of the International Weeksagainst Racism

One can find more information about Marie Burde here:

Mehr Informationen über Marie Burde sind zu finden unter:

https://www.gedenkstaette-stille-helden.de/stille-helden/biografien/biografie/detail-70

and

In an Article in the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel (https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/untergetaucht-in-berlin-wir-waren-freiwild-3597964.html) it says that at the end of 1941 there were still about 73,000 Jewish people living in Berlin. This was the time when emigration was made illegal and deportations into ghettos and concentration camps began. 5,000 Jews went underground and hid with the help of probably about ten thousand non-Jewish Berliners. Only 1,800 of those who went underground survived until 1945. Some of them still describe these times today (2025). One of them is Margot Friedländer, an inspiring person aged over 100 years. She says: “You must be human. Nothing more.”

Einem Artikel des Tagesspiegel (https://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/untergetaucht-in-berlin-wir-waren-freiwild-3597964.html) ist zu entnehmen, dass Ende 1941 noch ca. 73.000 Juden in Berlin lebten. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt wurde ihnen die Auswanderung verboten und die Deportationen begannen in Ghettos und Lager begannen. 5000 Juden tauchten unter; versteckten sich mit Hilfe von wohl mehr als zehntausend nichtjüdischen Berlinern. Nur 1800 Untergetauchte überlebten. Einige von ihnen berichten heute noch (Anfang 2025) über diese Zeit. Eine von ihnen ist Margot Friedländer, mit über 100 Jahren noch eine inspirierende Person. Sie sagt: „Ihr müsst Menschen sein. Nichts weiter.“

Guest Blog by Hans-Georg Rennert, 8.3.25

Why did five Irish women end up in Ravensbrück Concentration camp in World War II? They were like me, you or someone you know –nun, secretary, nanny, au pair and mostly anonymous until now. In February 2025 the Irish Embassy in Berlin will commemorate these women eighty years after their liberation. The Director of Ravensbrück Memorial Museum, Dr Andrea Genest will participate in a discussion, moderated by Kate Katharina Ferguson. The Berlin choir (lavoixmixte.de) will premier Hope and History a choral composition by Uta Schlegel from verses by Seamus Heaney. 

Cathi Fleming who has researched the life of Franciscan nun, Sister Kate Mc Carthy. will give insight into the compassion of these women which saved the lives of hundreds of British servicemen Cathi’s biography of Sister Kate is due to be published this year.

How did these Irish women end up in a concentration camp near Berlin? Answers include participating in the French and Belgian resistance, betrayal, torture, forced labour, hunger, death or survival. What inspired these “ordinary” women to engage in resistance? Why has there been so little known about them until now? Hard questions to answer.

Before I knew their stories, they inspired me to find out more about Ravensbrück and to write a novel (Bone and Blood, a Berlin novel pub.2014) which sought to explore connections between the silence of an Irish woman survivor of Ravensbrück and Celtic Tiger Ireland at the turn of this century.

Register for event: https://www.ireland.ie/en/germany/berlin/news-and-events/news-archive/commemorating-irish-women-of-ravensbruck-concentration-camp-19-20-february/

Bone and Blood, a Berlin novel by Margo Gorman available online from books.ie and curiousfoxbooks.com in Berlin

Performance of this choral composition of verses from Seamus Heaney by Uta Schlegel is restricted to this event in Berlin and one event in Donegal.

Sister Kate McCarthy was one of the five Irish women in Ravensbrück concentration camp during World  War 2. Cathi Fleming has written a biography, which puts flesh and bones onto the tall, emaciated figure of Sister Kate who returned home to Ireland after liberation of the camp. The experiences of a nun in a convent in Béthune in France; in a convent hospital in Louisiana in the United States; and her imprisonment in Germany may seem far removed from her birthplace in Drimoleague in County Cork. With a closer look,  the life stories of Sister Kate and the women of many nationalities  (including German) in Ravensbrück remind us  how connected we all are. Yet we forget, ignore or are unaware of these connections.

Three of these Irish women were active in the Belgian Resistance (see blog post 31 October 2024). The Mary O’ Shaughnessy Society commemorates another Irish woman with English roots. her in England. Sister Kate will be commemorated in Ireland and Germany in 2025. Mary O’ Shaughnessy, who was born in Lancashire to Irish parents, was, like Sister Kate, active in the French resistance.

I contacted Cathi after I heard her interview about Sister Kate in  2020 with Myles Duggan (1). My novel, Bone and Blood published in 2014 explores the silence of survivors and the desire to forget the brutality humans are capable of inflicting on other humans. The account of how a  “Zigeuner/Gypsy” woman was torn to bits by other women within the camp is based on survivor testimony and explores the silence of trauma. Fiction gave me the licence to reproduce research on Ravensbrück and to use imagination in the search for hope in the form of  a young Dubliner, Aisling, who uncovers the story of  her grand-aunt, Brigitte from County Leitrim.

The 80^th anniversary of liberation is a time to honour those who remind us of our common humanity and the complexities of war. Sister Kate saved the lives of 200 British servicemen in France and sabotaged the uniforms and parachutes of German servicemen while doing forced labour. Can stories of the “ordinary” people who were in concentration camps help us today? Can we find connections to the socialists, communists, gays, lesbians, Christians, Rom, Sinti, Jews,  and “others” of many skin colours and nationalities including German?

Violence, war, discrimination against the “other” are everywhere.. Resistance starts with sharing awareness of polarisation and intimidation. In the words of St Francis of Assisi who inspired Sister Kate as a Franciscan nun, “Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  Many thanks to Catherine Fleming for her work uncovering the story of an Irish nun who did the impossible. The biography will be published in 2025.

Sister Breda, niece of Sister Kate at commemoration in Bethune

(1) Myles Duggan, History Show rte.ie

On 14^th November, 2024,  the first 19 Stolpersteine/stumble-stones were laid in Wunstorf. the Heimat of my partner, Schorse. Stolpersteine are small brass plaques inscribed with  individual names and details of their extermination or persecution by the Nazis. Anybody who didn’t fit in was a potential target. Among those who didn’t fit in were the -Jewish people, Sinti and Romani people (known as Gypsies/Zigeuner) Homosexuals, Communists, Socialists, Christians, people with mental or physical disability, freemasons, deserters from military, Conscientious Objectors, people charged with treason, military disobedience or “anti-social” behaviour, Black people, people of many nationalities, Allied forces and those who helped them.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out 
- because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out 
- because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out 
- because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me and there was no-one left to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller

Schorse Rennert shares his impressions in German with an English Translation below:

Ihre Namen bleiben. Stolpersteine in Wunstorf verlegt

Am 14. November 2024 wurden die ersten 19 Stolpersteine in meiner Heimatstadt Wunstorf verlegt. Damit hat der Arbeitskreis Erinnerungskultur Wunstorf einen wichtigen Zwischenschritt erreicht. Dieser Kreis engagierter Wunstorfer:innen hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, allen von den Nazis ermordeten Wunstorfern individuelle Denkmale zu setzen. Die Stolpersteine des Künstlers Gunter Demnig sehen sie als die am besten geeignete Form dafür.

„Der Künstler Gunter Demnig erinnert an die Opfer der NS-Zeit, indem er vor ihrem letzten selbstgewählten Wohnort Gedenktafeln aus Messing ins Trottoir einlässt. Inzwischen liegen STOLPERSTEINE in 1265 Kommunen Deutschlands und in einundzwanzig Ländern Europas. ‘Ein Mensch ist erst vergessen, wenn sein Name vergessen ist’, zitiert Gunter Demnig den Talmud.“ (https://www.stolpersteine.eu/start – Zugriff 18.11.24)

Die Stolpersteine erinnern an 19 Menschen, die hier lebten und aufgrund ihres jüdischen Glaubens erniedrigt, entrechtet, beraubt, ermordet wurden. Nun kann es passieren, dass man auf dem Schlendern durch die Fußgängerzone über die Erinnerungen an diese ehemaligen Nachbarn „stolpert“ und zum Nachdenken angeregt wird. Über die Vergangenheit, die heutige Situation und das mögliche eigene Verhalten.

Eine wichtige Grundlage für die Recherchen des Arbeitskreises bildet das Buch „Das Schicksal der Juden in Wunstorf“ von Heiner Wittrock, 2. Auflage Wunstorf 2007. Mich hat die Lektüre dieser akribischen Arbeit beeindruckt und erschüttert. Für acht aus Wunstorf stammende Juden wurde Auschwitz zur letzten Station ihres Leidensweges. Aus der Langen Straße auf die Todesrampe: das gab es auch in Wunstorf und das darf es niemals wieder geben!

Was können wir dafür tun?

Die Stolpersteine erinnern an: Hans Bensew, Hugo Bensew, Kurt Bensew, Martha Bensow, Werner Bensew, Ferdinand Blank, Renate Salinger, Bernhard Kreuzer, Else Kreuzer, Hans-Joachim Kreuzer, Klaus Kreuzer, Albert Mendel, Henry Mendel, Rosa Mendel, Willi Mendel, Flora Roth, Henriette Schloss, Jacob Schloss, Ruth Schloss

Wer mehr über diese 19 Menschen wissen möchte, kann die Broschüre „Ihre Namen bleiben“ des Arbeitskreis Erinnerungskultur Wunstorf lesen, die hier zu finden ist: https://www.wunstorf.de/portal/seiten/wunstorfer-stolpersteine-922001543-20550.html

Their names remain. Stolpersteine laid in Wunstorf

On November 14, 2024, the first 19 Stolpersteine/stumbling blocks were laid in my hometown, Wunstorf. The Wunstorf Working Group for the Culture of Remembrance has achieved an important milestone. This group of committed Wunstorf residents has set itself the goal of placing individual memorials to all Wunstorf residents murdered by the Nazis. They see the stumbling blocks by artist Gunter Demnig as the most suitable form for this.

“The artist Gunter Demnig commemorates the victims of the Nazi era by placing brass memorial plaques on the pavement in front of their last chosen place of residence. There are now STOLPERSTEINE in 1265 municipalities in Germany and in twenty-one European countries. ‘A person is only forgotten when his name is forgotten’, Gunter Demnig quotes the Talmud.” (https://www.stolpersteine.eu/start – accessed 18.11.24)

The Stolpersteine in Wunstorf commemorate 19 people who lived here and were humiliated, stripped of their rights, robbed and murdered because of their Jewish faith. While strolling through the pedestrian zone, you may stumble across the memories of these former neighbours and be prompted to reflect. About the past, the current situation and how you would have behaved.

The book “The Fate of the Jews in Wunstorf” by Heiner Wittrock, 2nd edition Wunstorf 2007, forms an important basis for the working group’s research. Reading this meticulous work impressed and shocked me. For eight Jews from Wunstorf, Auschwitz was the last stop on their path of suffering. From Lange Straße to the death ramp: that also happened in Wunstorf and it must never happen again!

What can we do about it now?