Stumbling Stones Weinbergstraße 4a

These small brass memorial plaques (Stolpersteine or stumbling stones) were installed in May 2008 to commemorate:

* Therese Zuckerkandl, née Kern, born 1861, before deportation killed herself, 9 September 1942.
* Dr. Helene Langer, née Nothmann, born 1888, before deportation killed herself, 16 June 1944.

Background

After the death of her husband in 1926, Therese Zuckerkandl moved to Jena to be near family, including her cousin and adopted daughter Helene Langer. Therese commissioned an architect, Walter Gropius, to design her Bauhaus villa on steeply sloping land at Weinbergstrasse 4a. Therese was ordered to move to another location but refused. Soon followed the notice that she was to be deported to Theresienstadt. Again she refused -- this time she took her own life [sie flucht in den Tod].

Helene Langer was born in 1888 in Brazil to Maximilian Stoll, an entrepreneur, and Clara Stoll. When she was 6 years old, her father was shot by a dissatisfied employee. Her mother then went to Germany with Helene and her four siblings. Helene was adopted in Prague by her older cousin, Therese Zuckerkandl, and her husband Robert, who helped her get the best education. Helene studied plant physiology and physical chemistry in Prague, then in 1912 received her doctorate in bacteriology. In 1916 she married lawyer Wilhelm Lange. She worked as a nurse and bacteriologist in WWI. She and Wilhelm moved to Jena where their 3 children were born. Wilhelm oversaw the constuction of the Therese Zuckerkandl’s villa, and in 1928, the Langers moved into the (European) first floor. Although Wilhelm Langer was not Jewish, the early restrictions on Jews began to affect the family, but Helene did not want to leave Therese, who was sick. Although Helene still had her Brazilian citizenship, it could not protect her, especially after Brazil declared war on Germany. On 14 June 1944, while her husband was on a business trip, Helene Langer received her deportation orders. Two days later she killed herself by jumping off a rocky promontory above the Leutraursprungs in Mühltal. Her husband and children survived the war.
Botzstraße 10
A stolperstein for Therese's sister, Marie Straubel née Kern, is at Botzstraße 10 in Jena.

"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: Fedor de Vries & Anne Palmer
• Photos: :Linda:
• Stolpersteine Jena: Therese Zuckerkandl
• Gedenk- und Totenbuch Jena
• Stolpersteine Jena: Helene Langer
• Stolpersteine.eu