Stumbling Stone Arenbergstraße 1

This small, brass memorial plaque (Stolperstein or stumbling stone) commemorates:

* Ewald Berger, born 1914, Jehova’s Witness, arrested, refused to serve in the
war, death sentence 1940, Reich Court of Justice Berlin, executed 15 June 1940, Berlin-Plötzensee.

Ewald Berger was born in Ibbenbüren. Little is known about his life other than that he was a Jehovah’s Witness and that he wrote to his mother before his arrest.

When drafted into military service, he refused the oath of allegiance to Hitler. On religious principles in the Holy Scripture, he stated that he would not shoot people and would not take the oath. He was arrested, then sentenced to death by the Reich’s Military Court on 21 May 1940 for undermining the strength of the military forces. He was executed by beheading less than one month later.

In the population it was not known that Ewald Berger had been executed. It was said that he had committed suicide in search of his soul.

"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."

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