Stumbling Stones Domstraat 5

These small, brass, memorial plaques (stolpersteine, struikelstenen, or stumbling stones) commemorate:

* Kittie Koperberg, born 1892, murdered 14 May 1943, Sobibor.
* Elly Koperberg, born 1897, murdered 14 May 1943, Sobibor.

Background

Catharina Helmina Koperberg (called Kittie) and her sister, Ella Julie Koperberg (called Elly) were both born in Weltevreden in colonial Indonesia. The family moved to Utrecht, where their mother died in 1908. Their father remained in the Netherlands and was honorably discharged from service in 1910.

As adults, both sisters worked. Kitty was an assistant at a library of the Dutch national weather service from 1938 until she was fired by Nazi decree in 1940. Elly, who had earned a doctorate from the University of Amsterdam, began studies in biology and the University of Utrecht in 1938 but resigned two years later in solidarity with the Jewish teachers who has been fired. She then became a teacher at the municipal school for commerce.

In September, the sisters decided to go into hiding. They were found, treated as criminals, and taken to the Westerbork criminal barracks on 6 May 1943. Five days later, they and 4 other "criminals" were deported to Sobibor in a transport of 1,446 Jews. It arrived on 14 May. Because of their ages (51 and 45), there is no reason to suspect they would have been selected for labor. Catharina Helmina Koperberg and Ella Julie Koperberg would have been killed in the Sobibor gas chamber on the same day they arrived.

"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: TracesOfWar.com
• Photos: Arjan Vrieze (1), Johan Bolhuis (2)
• Joods Monument
• Kitty Koperberg, 1892-1943, by Fons Baede, KNMI, 2017
• Stolpersteine.eu