Stumbling Stone Zakstraat 6

This Stolperstein / Stumbling Stone commemorates:

*Louis Karels, born 1889, murdered 31 August 1942, Auschwitz.

Louis Karels, a grocery vendor, apparently lived alone, apart from his Catholic wife, who with one son survived the war. They had 8 other children, but information about them is limited. At least two died before the war and one other survived.

Louis was part of the arrest on 25 August 1942 of the first major group of Jewish men in Limburg Province, who were taken via Westerbork to Auschwitz, where he was murdered.

Louis was the brother of Max Karels, whose stolperstein is at Wolfstraat 12 in Maastricht.

"Stolpersteine" is an art project for Europe by Gunter Demnig to commemorate victims of National Socialism (Nazism). Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) are small 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."

Borne was the first town in the Netherlands in which Stolpersteine were placed -- 29 November 2007.

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