Used in a sentence: "I surely loved my time overseas in Cologne, Germany during a semester abroad in late 1990, but I left before the first of thousands of Stolpersteine were created there."
And, as per usual, I'm not the most timely and I'm a month or so late regarding the Days of Remembrance regarding the holocaust, but I did see a travel article in the local paper that mentioned the placement of various blocks in European cities of these Stolpersteine ... or "stumbling blocks" in German, and it's been rattling around in my head since then.
Turns out it is an "art installation" that serves to put a small reminder in the sidewalk outside of the last home of any one of any number of groups who were persecuted by the Nazis in World War II. What started with a few in Cologne in 1992 has spread across multiple countries and now represent over 43,500 memorials in approximately 1000 cities and towns.
It's a fascinating way to take something so large that it can be hard to fathom (i.e. the numbers of those who lost their lives) and to make it small and personal and memorable and even more heartbreaking. I'm not sure what anniversary I'll return to Germany (25th next year seems too soon ... maybe the 30th in 2020?), but I know I'll be on the lookout for the Stolpersteine when I do get back.
THE WIKI IS PERFECT FOR LISTS LIKE THESE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_country_that_have_stolpersteine
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STOLPERSTEINE HERE:
http://www.stolpersteine.eu/en/
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE HERE:
http://www.ushmm.org/remember/days-of-remembrance
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