WIESBADEN, Germany - It was a busy day on a bustling street.
As pedestrians pushed their way past Helenenstr. 23, a group of German and American students paused to commemorate the lives of one Wiesbaden family snuffed out in the Holocaust.
"I feel this is preventative," said Hannah Cornish, a Wiesbaden High School ninth-grader who helped raise money for the memorial project as a middle-schooler. "If we acknowledge what was done in the past, maybe it won't happen again in the future."
Students from an elementary school in Naurod and American youths from Wiesbaden Middle School gathered April 29 to watch as city worker Ertan Tezcan placed "Stumbling Stones" (golden stones designed by artist Gunter Demnig) in the memory of the Weiser family, Wiesbaden citizens who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II.
Members of the middle school's history class and Junior Leadership Seminar held fundraising events to help pay for the stones which are placed throughout the city in honor of Jewish and other citizens killed during the Holocaust.
The Weisers resided at Helenenstr. 23 before being forced to flee to Poland in 1938 in the wake of Nazi persecution of Jewish citizens. After the Nazis rolled into Poland, the Weisers took refuge in the forest but were ultimately denounced and most likely shot.
"This is kind of a full circle thing," said Cornish. "I never knew how much the Holocaust impacted Wiesbaden, but by purchasing a stone, we can help make people aware."
The Wiesbaden middle-schoolers said by studying modern slavery and the Holocaust, it has made them more cognizant of how people have been and are continuing to be persecuted around the globe.
"We want them to have an awareness of the world around them and to know the history of the world around us," said Wiesbaden Middle School eighth-grade history teacher Donna Kimelman, adding that having the opportunity in some fashion to remember those who perished has been rewarding.
"I'm Jewish and moving to Germany was a big issue for my family," Kimelman said. "It took a leap for them to get over being in Germany. This makes me feel more whole."
For Elaine Sinclair the small ceremony was personal. "My mother was the niece of Ester and Hermann (the Weiser family -- killed along with their children Julius, Adolf and Dora Eva). … My parents were both Holocaust survivors.
"I think it's a wonderful thing being done. … the fact that children have sponsored these stones," said Sinclair who traveled from Great Britain for the placing of the stones, "that future generations will remember. It's looking forward."
The Stumbling Stones (Stolpersteine) can be found in 1,000 locations in Europe with more than 40,000 installed stones and 500 in Wiesbaden alone. The intent, as quoted from the "Talmud" on the artist's website is to not forget: "Ein Mensch ist erst vergessen, wenn sein Name vergessen ist (a person is first forgotten when his name is forgotten)."
For more information visit www.stolpersteine.eu/en. To take an interactive tour of Jewish historical sites in Wiesbaden visit the Wiesbaden Middle School's Information Center page at http://infocenter.wms.hdso.eportalnow.net/wiesbaden-walking-tour.html.
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