Stumbling Stone Lageweg 4

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

* Ares Hooghuis, born 1918, arrested 25 April 1944, deported 1944 from Amersfoort, murdered 13 October 1944, Zöschen.

Ares Hooghuis, a farm worker, lived with his parents during the war at this address. His friend, Louis de Blecourt, an electrician, was taken from his home next door (Lageweg 2) on 25 April 1944 during a Nazi raid in retaliation for the murder of a police officer. Ares chose to go with Louis. They were put on a train and sent to Amersfoort labor camp. Ares’s mother took clothes and food to him there. Then on 7 July 1944 they were sent to labor camps in Germany. Ares ended up in Zöschen, which Dutch prisoners constructed from 7 August through the end of September. Conditions were severe, including exposure to weather, inadequate food, physical punishments, and disease. Ares Hooghuis did not survive. His friend Louis lived.

"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."

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

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Source

• Text: Anne Palmer
• Photos: Nico Nienhuis
• Stolpersteine der Halen van Groningen: Ares Hooghuis
• Groninger Gijzelaars: Over de razzia
• Stolpersteine.eu