Stumbling Stones Via Arenula 29

These memorial stones (Stolpersteine or stumbling blocks) commemorate:
* Here lived Samuele Leone Della Seta, born 1869, arrested 16 October 1943, deported to Auschwitz, murdered 23 October 1943.
* Here lived Giulia De Segni Della Seta, born 1872, arrested 16 October 1943, deported to Auschwitz, murdered 23 October 1943.
* Here worked Cesira Calò, born 1925, arrested 16 October 1943, deported to Auschwitz, died in an unknown location on an unknown date.

Samuele and Giulia Della Seta were husband and wife and 18-year-old Cesira Calò, who lived nearby, worked in their home as a housekeeper. Samuele was in the edible oil business. All three were arrested on the big 16 Oct 1943 roundup and on the 18th they were put on the same transport from Rome. Witnesses reported that when Samuele (age 72) tried to help his wife, a German soldier hit him with a gun. Samuele and Giulia arrived at Auschwitz on 23 October and were murdered the same day. Cesira’s date and place of death are unknown.

It would seem that Samuele and Giulia Della Seta’s children (adults by then) had already escaped. They stayed, believing that, as older people, they would be all right. Cesira’s family was less fortunate: her parents and her 5 siblings were arrested and all deported to Auschwitz on the same transport as she was. None survived the Holocaust.

The small brass plaques, in the pavement in front of houses of which the (mostly Jewish) residents were persecuted or murdered by the Nazis, mention the name, date of birth and place (mostly a concentration camp) and date of death.

In many other cities, mainly in Germany but also in other European countries, the memorials also can be found. There are already many thousands of these plaques and their number is still counting. Almost all Stolpersteine are laid by the German artist himself, Gunter Demnig.

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