Stepping Over The Neumanns

In the last few years, the memorial stones known as Stolpersteine have been laid all over Germany and Austria. The meaning of Stolperstein in English is literally "stumbling block" but it can also mean "rememberance marker". They are the project of a German artist which was at first little known outside Cologne and Berlin, but has now become well-known in other parts of the country.

The Stolpersteine are usually laid in front of the houses of Jews who were deported to concentration camps in the Nazi era. They are sometimes also laid for Jews who emigrated during this time and survivors of camps, as well as for other persecuted groups, but mostly they are for deported Jews. The stones are square and replace a cobblestone in the street. They are covered with a brass top and inscribed with the name and birthdate of the person, where they were deported to, and when they died.