Stumbling Stones Taco Mesdagstraat 23a

Stumbling Stones Taco Mesdagstraat 23a #3

Stumbling Stones Taco Mesdagstraat 23a #4

Stumbling Stones Taco Mesdagstraat 23a #5

These small brass memorial plaques (Stolpersteine or stumbling stones) commemorate:

* Izaak Salomons, born 1901, deported 1942 from Westerbork, murdered 31 January 1943, Auschwitz.
* Erna Abraham Salomons-Wolffs, born 1905, deported 1942 from Westerbork, murdered 12 October 1942, Auschwitz.
* Thea Salomons, born 1937, deported 1942 from Westerbork, murdered 12 October 1942, Auschwitz.
* Bernard de Levie, born 1884, deported 1942 from Westerbork, murdered 2 November 1942, Auschwitz.
* Erna de Levie-Schreiber, born 1889, deported 1942 from Westerbork, murdered 2 November 1942, Auschwitz.
* Chaie Schöps-Spruch, born 1872, deported 1943 from Westerbork, murdered 10 September 1943, Auschwitz.
* Debora Schöps, born 1906, deported 1943 from Westerbork, murdered 30 November 1943, Auschwitz.
* Miena Reina Joosten, born 1878, deported 1942 from Westerbork, murdered 12 October 1942, Auschwitz.

Izaak Salomons was born in Groningen. He and Erna Wolffs married. They lived in Aurich, Germany, and he became a German citizen. Their only child, Thea, was born in 1937. They fled to Groningen in May 1938. He was the principal resident of Taco Mesdagstraat 23-A, and at the beginning of the war he began providing housing to five other Jewish residents. The Salomons were taken to Westerbork and deported from there on 9 October 1942 to Auschwitz. Erna Abraham Salomons-Wolffs and their five-year-old daughter, Thea Salomons, were murdered on 12 October. Izaak Salomons survived 3½ more months before he was murdered.

Bernard de Levie, born in Groningen, and his wife, Erna de Levie-Schreiber from Berlin, lived at Jozef Israëlsstraat 44a from December 1939, and in April 1942 they moved (possibly involuntarily) to Taco Mesdagstraat 23-A. Just a few months later, they were deported to Westerbork during a large raid on Groningen Jews. The date of Erna’s deportation isn’t known. But it is certain that they were both deported to Auschwitz on 30 October and murdered on 2 November.

Chaie Spruch, born in Austria-Hungary, married Mozes Schöps. Together they had at least one son and one daughter. Chaie Schöps and her daughter Debora moved to Vienna at some point, then came to Groningen and lived at Taco Mesdagstraat 23-A from February 1939. Debora is listed as a warehouse clerk or saleslady. During the Groningen raid of 3-5 October 1942, both women were deported to Westerbork, where they stayed 11 months. On 7 September 1943 they were deported to Auschwitz where they were murdered on the 10th. Two years later, on 26 October 1945, a newspaper ad ran in a German-language magazine in New York. Translated, it read, I’m looking for my mother Klara Schöps née Spruch and my sister Dora (Debora) Schöps. Letters should be sent to Harry Schöps, 2119 Valentine Avenue, Bronx 57, New York.

Miena Reina Joosten was born in Groningen. She was one of 8 children, 6 of whom survived to adulthood. She was the only one who did not marry. At the beginning of 1940, she moved to Taco Mesdagstraat 23-A. In October 1942, she was deported to Westerbork with the other residents of this address. Then on 9 October, she was deported again and murdered in Auschwitz three days later.

"Stolpersteine" is an art project for Europe by Gunter Demnig to commemorate victims of National Socialism (Nazism). Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) are small, 10x10cm brass plaques placed in the pavement in front of the last voluntary residence of (mostly Jewish) victims who were murdered by the Nazis. Each plaque is engraved with the victim’s name, date of birth, and place (mostly a concentration camp) and date of death. By doing this, Gunter Demnig gives an individual memorial to each victim. One stone, one name, one person. He cites the Talmud: "A human being is forgotten only when his or her name is forgotten."