Stumbling Stones Voorstraat 8-10

These small, brass, memorial plaques (stolpersteine, struikelstenen, or stumbling stones) commemorate members of the de Bruin family:

* Rudolf Emanuel de Bruin, born 1887, murdered 28 May 1943, Sobibor.
* Rosalchen de Bruin-Salomonson, born 1889, murdered 28 May 1943, Sobibor.
* Rosetta de Bruin, born 1916, murdered 9 July 1943, Sobibor.
* Lion Emanuel de Bruin, born 1918, murdered 30 September 1942, Auschwitz.
* Emanuel de Bruin, born 1921, murdered 30 September 1942, Auschwitz.
* Alex Sallie de Bruin, born 1927, murdered 28 May 1943, Sobibor.

Rudolf de Bruin and Rosalchen Salomonson married and had 4 children – Rosetta, Lion Emanuel, Emanuel, and Alex Sallie. Rudolf played an important role in Hardenberg. He was a café owner, printed a weekly magazine from his shop on Voorstraat, and was a wethouder -- a formal member of the town mayor’s executive board. Rudolf and their son Lion were both members of the local theater company.

On 17 Dec 1941, Rudolf de Bruin’s business was closed by the Zwolle branch of the Sicherheitspolizei. In June 1942, Rudolf, Rosalchen, and three of their children were living at this Hardenberg location (called A 118 at that time): Lion (a farmer), Emanuel (a farmer), and Alex Sallie (a tailor). Rosetta was then living in Haarlem.

The two oldest sons – Lion and Emanuel de Bruin – were the first to be deported and murdered, in Auschwitz. Next, the parents – Rudolf and Rosalchen de Bruin – and their youngest child – 15-year-old Alex Sallie de Bruin – were murdered on the same spring day in Sobibor. Finally, Rosetta de Bruin, age 26, was murdered two months later, also in Sobibor.

"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: Erwin Wolbink
• "Levenslicht geeft Holocaust slachtoffers een gezicht," p. 8
• Joods Monument
• Stolpersteine.eu