Stolpersteine
Tripping Stones or Stolperstein
Stolpersteine are small inscribed metal plaques are placed outside houses in Europe.
The plaques, hand carved by Gunter Demnig, from 1992, list the name of a person, when they lived in the house nearby. And when they died. Mostly 1940-45 and in concentration camps. There are now over 100,000 memorials. The people the Nazis targeted included Jews, sinti/gypsies, homosexuals, Asians, Africans, communists, disabled and trade unions.
These silent memorials translate as 'tripping stones' or 'stumbling stones' They suddenly stop you in their tracks. It is like being ambushed... and the bare facts of a life
In July 2022 I filmed and photographed Stolpersteine in Trieste.
And then wrote this song. 'Tripping Stones' about the memorials and the impact that they have on people who see them. this is the Youtube link to my song Tripping Stones
The most chilling thing is the number of them in some cities... sometimes all the families from a tenement block were taken.. and there are matrices of names. It also makes us reflect on how soon things return to 'normal' and what those who witnessed what was happening at the time. What did they do and think. What did they know?
For more information visit the website: https://www.stolpersteine.eu/
I also got in touch with Trevor Sage, a retired Englishman who lives in Prague. https://www.facebook.com/stolpersteineprague. Trevor realised that the plaques needed to be cleaned so they remained legible. So he began doing this on his own and then others started to help. He then published a book telling the story of all the people who are commemorated in Prague.
My song has taken on a life of its own which is just as I had wanted. It is going to be used in an exhibition in Germany and the people administering the Stolperstein website are planning to use it.
