Stumbling Stone Karl-Liebknecht-Straße

This small brass memorial plaque (Stolperstein or stumbling stone) commemorates:
* Siegfried Bernstein, born 1888, deported 1942 Warsaw Ghetto, ??? [fate unknown].

Siegfried Bernstein, a pianist and harmonium player, was the son of the second-to-last cantor of the Cottbus Jewish community. He was expelled from the National Chamber of Music in 1935. He had no way to earn a living and depended on his wife and charity from the Jewish community. Next, he was arrested during Reichspogromnacht (November 1938), held in Sachsenhausen, and released the following month. He then tried to emigrate, aiming for China. His non-Jewish wife did not want to leave Germany, and he could not stay. Under these circumstnces, she ended their marriage by divorce in 1939.

Siegfried did not escape. In April 1942 he was deported to the Warsaw Ghetto with many other Cottbus Jews. One source states he was then taken to Treblinka to be killed.

"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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