Stumbling Stone Folkingestraat 41

This small brass memorial plaque (Stolperstein or Stumbling Stone) commemorates:

* Samuel Woltjer, born 1912, deported 1944 from Westerbork, murdered 18 January 1945, KDO Chechowitz.

Little information was found on Samuel Woltjer’s life before the war. He apparently had a wife (Roosje Woltjer-Bilderbeek) and a child who survived the war; the three lived together at this address. Yad Vashem’s records indicate that he was deported from Westerbork transit camp on 4 Septemb;er 1944 to Theresienstadt, and then 3 weeks later deported from there to Auschwitz. He survived the selection and was put to work, ending up in a labor camp in Czechowitz/Tschechowitz.

Czechowitz/Tschechowitz II was an Auschwitz labor sub-camp where prisoners were forced to dismantle factory buildings damaged by air raids; to do earth, bricklaying, and concrete work; to build roads; and to repair railroad tracks. As Soviet troops approached, the Nazis on 17 January 1945 began evacuating surviving prisoners from Auschwitz and its sub-camps, including Czechowitz/Tschechowitz. About 60,000 Auschwitz complex prisoners were forced to walk 55-63km into Germany. They suffered from the winter cold, exposure, and starvation on these death marches. SS Guards shot anyone who fell down or fell behind. As many as 15,000 of the 60,000 did not survive the marches. We do not know if Samuel was murdered on the march or while still in the camp.

"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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Source

• Text: Bert Deelman & Anne Palmer
• Photos: Bert Deelman (1), Suzanne Matrosov-Vruggink (2), Bert Deelman (3)
• Joods Monument
• Yad Vashem Central Database of Shoah Victims’ Names
• Geni.com
• Auschwitz sub-camps: Tschechowitz II
• Stolpersteine.eu