By Cailin Acosta
LA JOLLA, California – Here Lived shown Thursday night, Feb. 6, at the San Diego International Film Festival is a documentary film directed by Jane Wells who follows conceptual artist Gunter Demnig in laying Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) in Holland.
Stolpersteine are placed all over Europe in 30 countries. The documentary was a way for Demnig (who is from Germany) to pay tribute to the Jewish families who were murdered by the Nazis. He did not think this simple project would become the world’s largest decentralized memorial of the Holocaust.
Stolpersteine are simple. They are concrete blocks measuring 10 x 10cm, topped with permanent brass plates that are hand stamped with the names and fates of the victims of the Holocaust. The stones are laid into the pavement in front of the last residence of the victims.
During the filming of this documentary, Wells filmed Demnig laying his 100,000th Stolperstein in Holland. The family was present for this emotional and deeply personal experience. One of the survivors was thankful that she now had a place marked for her mother and siblings who perished in the concentration camps.
Over the years, organizations have made donations to make sure all those who perished would receive a Stolperstein in their honor as many families do not have surviving members to contact. One story Demnig and his assistant came across was of a 102-year-old women who was born in the 1800’s. She was taken by the Nazis and was killed at 102 years old. Demnig and his assistant located the apartment she last habituated and honored her by putting a Stolperstein in the pavement.
These permanent reminders in the concrete pavement serve to honor those Jews who did not survive the Holocaust.
In my travels to Europe, I found these plates in Paris. They were stamped in French with the dates of the victim’s birth and death. I tried to imagine what dreams and goals they had for the future and what intense fear they must have felt.
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Cailin Acosta is the assistant editor of the San Diego Jewish World.