Boom - Stolpersteine

Information: Wikipedia

A Stolperstein literally "stumbling stone", metaphorically a "stumbling block" is a sett-size, 10 by 10 centimetres (3.9 in × 3.9 in) concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution.

 

The Stolpersteine project, initiated by the German artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, aims to commemorate individuals at exactly the last place of residency—or, sometimes, work—which was freely chosen by the person before he or she fell victim to Nazi terror, euthanasia, eugenics, was deported to a concentration or extermination camp, or escaped persecution by emigration or suicide. As of 29 March 2018, over 67,000 Stolpersteine have been laid in 22 countries, making the Stolpersteine project the world's largest decentralized memorial.

 

The majority of Stolpersteine commemorate Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Others have been placed for Sinti and Romani people (then also called "gypsies"), homosexuals, the physically or mentally disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, black people, members of the Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, and the anti-Nazi Resistance, the Christian opposition (both Protestants and Catholics), and Freemasons, along with International Brigade soldiers in the Spanish Civil War, military deserters, conscientious objectors, escape helpers, capitulators, "habitual criminals", looters, and others charged with treason, military disobedience, or undermining the Nazi military, as well as Allied soldiers.

 

List of Stolpersteine in the city of Boom

Vrijheidshoek 28: HENRI SELLESLAGHS


Vrijheidstraat 17

hier woonde

HENRI SELLESLAGHS

geb. 1913

scheepshersteller

verzetsstrijder

gearresteerd 14.7.1942

geïnterneerd

Antwerpen

vermoord 24.9.1942

Beverlo

Vrijheidstraat 17

here lived

HENRI SELLESLAGHS

born 1913

ship repairer

resistance fighter

arrested 14.7.1942

interned

Antwerpen

murdered 24.9.1942

Beverlo

Born in Willebroek 20 September 1913, electrician/welder, married to Jozefina Van Den Bril. Living in Boom, Vrijheidshoek 28. Member of the gymnastics circle VTS GYM Willebroek.

Arrested on 14 July 1942 in Antwerp and imprisoned in the Begijnenstraat in Antwerp. Sentenced to death on September 14, 1942 for communist activity.  Shot in Antwerp on 24 September 1942. Buried in Hechtel in grave 67. Reburied in Willebroek on June 3, 1945 by the Red Cross.

Posthumously recognized as a Political Prisoner and as an Armed Resistance Member, affiliated with the Belgian Partisan Army (B.L.P.).