Stumbling Stones Georgstrasse 28

These memorial stones (so called Stolpersteine or stumbling blocks) commemorate:

* Rika Hoffmann, born 1859, deported 1942, Theresienstadt, dead 1 January 1943.
* Sibilla van Gelder née Herz, born 1863, deported 1942, Theresienstadt, Malyj Trostenec, ??? [fate unknown].

Details of Sibilla’s life and death are uncertain. One source gave her place of death as Auschwitz, a second stated Minsk/ Malyj Trostenec and yet another stated she died while on a transport from Theresienstadt.

Rika was a teacher of needlework (Handarbeitslehrerin) who taught almost all the girls in Schermbeck. She also took care of the synagogue next door.

Jews had been part of Schermbeck since 1635. By 1855, 97 (11%) of the 897 Schermbeck residents were Jews. In 1938 there were only 11 Jews in the town. After Rika was deported, there were none.

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 and villages, 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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