Stumbling Stones Nieuwe Blekerstraat 44a

These small, brass, memorial plaques (stolpersteine, struikelstenen, or stumbling stones) commemorate:

* Siemon Henri de Vries, born 1890, deported 1943 from Westerbork, murdered 9 July 1943, Sobibor.
* Dientje de Vries-Bas, born 1888, deported 1943 from Westerbork, murdered 9 July 1943, Sobibor.

Background

Siemon Henri de Vries was the youngest of nine children. Both parents were merchants. Siemon himself had a variety of jobs as a railroad stoker, a warehouse worker, and a laborer. In 1915, Siemon married Saartje Nijveen, a maid. They had two children, Eva (b. 1917) and Benjamin (b. 1919). Saartje died in 1935. Two years later, Siemon married 49-year-old Dientje Bas, the daughter of an Amsterdam diamond cutter. They had no children together.

In 1941, son Benjamin de Vries and Saartje Boolegraaf married. They moved to Siemon and Dientje’s house, and then in April 1942 they rented a room nearby at Blekerstraat 24a. On 11 December 1942, Benjamin and Saartje were murdered in Auschwitz. Stolpersteine for them are at Blekerstraat 24a.

Siemon Henri de Vries and Dientje de Vries-Bas were deported to Westerbork on 20 June 1943, then onward to Sobibor where they were murdered on 9 July 1943.

Of Siemon's eight siblings, only one survived the war, and of Dientje’s seven siblings, only one survived. Siemon’s daughter Eva survived.

"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 victim’s with the 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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Source

• Text: Anne Palmer
• Photos: Suzanne Matrosov-Vruggink (1), Suzanne Matrosov-Vruggink (2)
• Stichting Stolperteine Schilderswijk Groningen: Nieuwe Blekerstraat 44a
• Joods Monument
• Stolpersteine.eu