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.

Alida de Vries was born on 25 May 1909, she was an entrepreneur and married to Hersch Mozes Cohen.  Hersch Mozes Cohen was born in Rotterdam on 14 June 1905, he was a salesman.  Maurice Cohen was born in Antwerpen on 18 October 1935, he was a student.  All 3 were put on Transport II leaving Mechelen on 11 August 1942.

Abraham Seewald was born in Wanpieszow on 2 December 1875, he was a diamond cutter.  Arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.

Esther Seewald was born in Klasno on 8 June 1915, she was an office clerk. Nina Seewald was born in Klasno on 18 August 1920, she was a house keeper. Both arrested and put on Transport II leaving Mechelen 11 August 1942. Rosa Seewald, born in 1926.

Grietje Boas was born in Amsterdam on 20 May 1898, she was a hauswife.  Arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.  Jacob Stokvisch was born on 16 June 1898.

Sara Stokvisch was born in Borgerhout on 17 September 1927, she was a pupil.  Eva Stokvisch was born in Deurne on 15 February 1931, she was a pupil.  Lea Stokvisch was born in Borgerhout on 15 June 1938. All arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.

Joel Hillesum was a son of Hartog Hillesum and Marianna van Collem. He was deported from Mechelen on October 31, 1942. His children Marianna (1937), Rebecca (1937) and Hartog (1938), were deported from Mechelen together with Jennie Trijtel.

Sender and Frimet Haber and their children Sonia and Sylvain lived at this address. This Polish-Jewish family went into hiding in Berchem, but was denounced and transported to Auschwitz in April 1943 on transport XX. Sylvain had previously been safely housed with a family in Ghent and he was the only one to survive the war.

Dina Gulden, born in Warsaw on 1/12/1927, housewife. Arrested in Deurne and on Transport VII, departure from Mechelen on 1/9/1942.

Mozes Aron Gulden, born in Deurne on 20/11/1932, pupil. Arrested in Deurne and on Transport VII, departure from Mechelen on 1/9/1942.

Pesa Bruches, born in Warsaw on 18/5/1902, housewife, wife of Majer Gulden. Arrested in Deurne and on Transport VII, departure from Mechelen on 1/9/1942.

Jeannette Plas was born in Amsterdam on 22 August 1905.  David Vieyra was born in Antwerp on 25 September 1909, he was a salesman.  He was married to Jeannette Plas. Both arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.

Esther Vieyra was born in Antwerp on 12 October 1936. Maurice Vieyra was born in Antwerp on 20 May 1938.  Both arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.

On the 20th November 2022 two stones were added to the four that were alredy in place.

Isidor Fransman was born in Amsterdam on 9 March 1904, he was a diamondcutter and married to Rebecca Vieyra. He was arrested in Deurne and put on Transport XVII leaving Mechelen 31 October 1942.  Rebecca Vieyra was born in Amsterdam on 27 July 1907. Put on Transport leaving Mechelen on 8 September 1942. Murdered at the age of 35.

Isaak de Groot was born in Delft on 15 June 1902, he was a salesman and married to Emmy Sigrid Alida Winther.  Put on transport XXIII leaving Mechelen on 15 January 1944.  Emmy Sigrid Winther was born in Rotterdam on 7 November 1909, she was a housewife and married to Isaak.  

Henriette De Groot was born in Antwerpen on 15 December 1932, Alida De Groot was born in Antwerpen on 21 February 1934, they were both students.  Arrested in Antwerpen and put on transport XI leaving Mechelen on 26 September 1942.

Emmy and her daughters Henriette and Alida were deported on 26 September 1942 with Convoy XI. This convoy arrived in Auschwitz on September 28. The death date for Emmy Sigrid Alida Winther has been set on September 30, 1942 and it is therefore likely that Henriette and her sister Alida were also killed on September 30.

Syma Jaskievetz was born in London on 16 June 1889.  She was a housewife and put on Transport II leaving Mechelen on 11 August 1942.

On 27 August 1942, commander Holm of the German 'Sicherheitspolizei' gives the order to hold a roundup of Jews in Antwerp.  It turns out that Holm had at his disposal forty SS men, 45 'Feldgendarmes', Belgian police and gendarmerie. At 5 pm, the Belgian police received the orders by telephone and that the 'raffle' would be accompanied by mass arrests and would take place at 8 pm. At exactly 8 pm the raid on the Jewish families began, but it did not last long. After less than half an hour it became clear that many Jewish families had fled. The German Sicherheitspolizei immediately suspected that the families had been informed of the plans. When handwritten pamphlets were found shortly afterwards, the action was immediately stopped. These pamphlets were distributed among Jews by members of the Belgian police to warn them of the impending action.

The Deurne police were ordered to house the arrested Jews in the then cinema Plaza on the Gallifortlei and had to report to Holm at 8 o'clock the next day.  Despite the great horror of the Deurne population, who blocked the passage to the cinema, hundreds of Jews were gathered. It is only when German police shoot in the air that people make room and Jews can enter the Plaza. It is there that the resistance takes action again to help the Jewish families.  A few off-duty officers hid in the crowd. At the back of the cinema there were toilets with small hinged windows. A few officers opened them and 12 Jews were able to escape through the garden of Albert Spitaels, who together with Jos Veerman and Hermans formed the leaders of the Deurne resistance. Other families were less fortunate and ended up in the gardens of neighbours. They could be arrested again.

It is actions like these that eventually lead to the arrest of almost the entire Deurne corps on January 14, 1944. 66 members of the Deurne corps are arrested, of which 43 are taken to concentration and extermination camps. Only eight of them will return. Spitaels dies in the Gross-Rosen camp. His body disappears into a mass grave and has never been found.

(info: Leo Verhaelen – HLN)

Jakob Bonettemaker was born in Amsterdam on 23 November 1883, he was a clerk and married to Eva Perels  Eva Perels was born in Paris on 26 September 1877, she was a housewife.  They were both arrested in Deurne and put on transport VIII leaving Mechelen on 8 September 1942.

Jacob Bonettemaker did administration for the Antwerp Diamond Workers Union. The Bonettemaker-Perels family lived since December 1928 in the Deurne district of Antwerp. Together with their daughter Rachel, they lived at 161 Gallifortlei. 

Jan de Ridder was born in Deurne on June 19, 1902 and lives with his family at Turnhoutsebaan 207. In 1926 he married Emma Baelus. Two years later, the couple buys the house at Gallifortlei number 244. Jan is a diamond cutter, but in 1932 he becomes a police officer in Deurne.

On 10 May, the Luftwaffe bombs the airport of Deurne. Eight days later, the first German soldiers enter Antwerp and the second German occupation is a fact.  In 1942 raids are planned to arrest Jewish families. The Antwerp police are forced to cooperate in this. The second round-up, on August 27, failed partly because police officers from Deurne, Berchem, Borgerhout and Zurenborg notify the families in advance.

In the night of 14 to 15 January 1944, Jan De Ridder and 43 colleagues are arrested for resistance activities. He is first locked up in the German section of the prison in the Begijnenstraat. On May 6, he was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp and then to Ellrich's labor camp. On March 9, 1945 he dies of illness and deprivation in the extermination camp of the Boelckekazerne in Nordhausen.

Moritz Kuliasko was born on 8 October 1907 in Cologne, Germany.  He was a merchand. Put on Transport XXV leaving Mechelen on 19 May 1944.

Wilhelmus Alphonsus (Alfons) Schneider (Antwerp, March 18, 1892 - Harzungen, August 5, 1944) was a Belgian politician of the BWP and BSP. He was mayor of Deurne and provincial councilor of Antwerp.

Alfons Schneider did not oppose the activities of his “white” commissioner, which ensured that every raid they had to do to round up Jews turned out to be a failure or a very poor result. He himself was not actively involved in those acts of resistance; that was the work of Deputy Commissioner Frans Van Heymbeeck and his agents.

Unfortunately, 4 months after his entire police force was arrested by the occupying forces, Alfons Schneider would also be arrested on suspicion of resistance against the Germans. This suspicion had been whispered to the occupiers several times by a certain Jef Van De Wiele, who apparently was only too happy to see Alfons Schneider disappear.  He was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp and then to Harzungen where he was tortured to death on August 5, 1944.

Charlotte Hamburger was born in Amsterdam on 22 January 1907, she was a diamond resetter.  Arrested and put on Transport II leaving Mechelen 11 August 1942.

This was the address where Lode lived when he was arrested exactly on his 17th birthday and was eventually taken as a Night and Nebel prisoner to various prison camps in Germany and Austria. He died 80 years ago today on March 29, 1944 from the hardships he endured in Karlsruhe, while being transported to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp.

Frederika Serlui was the daughter of Isaac Serlui. She was born in Amsterdam on 24 October 1893. Hartog Velleman was the son of Isaac Velleman and Saartje Rubens. He was born in Rotterdam, 10 July 1888. Hartog Velleman and Frederika Serlui married in 1914 in Berchem, Belgium. They had six children.

Alexander Velleman was born on 11 January 1923 in Borgerhout, Belgium.  He was a diamond cutter.  Isaac Velleman was born in Antwerp on 23 April 1920, he was a diamond cutter. Put on Transport XV leaving Mechelen on 24 October 1942.

Louis Velleman was born in Antwerp on 13 December 1928, he was a pupil.  Arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.

Roza Velleman was born in Amsterdam on 1 November 1918, she was a seamstress. Martha Velleman was born in Amsterdam on 27 July 1916, she was a seamstress. Put on Transport VI leaving Mechelen 29 August 1942.

On September 22, 1942, Samson Cohen is deeply concerned for his family. He writes a letter to the Association of Jews in Belgium to get news about them, about their whereabouts, where he can reach them.  Samson Cohen doesn't know what happened to his family. He writes his letter almost two weeks after the tragedy happened.

Catharina (38 years) and her children Jackie (12 years) and Betsie (8 years) were arrested at their home at 97 Oudedonklaan in Deurne. Father Samson had previously been sent as a forced laborer to Northern France. Mother and children stay in the Dossin barracks for about ten days before they leave on their deadly journey on 8 September. A mother with two small children has no chance of making it through the selection in Auschwitz-Birkenau. They are killed immediately upon arrival.

When Samson Cohen is repatriated from northern France to the Dossin barracks in Mechelen, he does not know that his wife and children have disappeared. The 38-year-old diamond merchant is himself taken to Auschwitz on October 31, 1942 with Transport XVII. There he was selected for forced labor on November 3, but died in the camp on December 1, 1942.

Louisa Swaap was born in Rotterdam on 18 July 1890, she was a housewife and married to Edmond Verdurmen.  Arrested in Deurne and put on Transport VIII leaving Mechelen 8 September 1942.

Jacomina

Clara Huijsman was a daughter of Machiel Huijsman and Jacomina Frankfort. She married Hartog Tertaas on 15 May 1919 in Amsterdam, a son of Mozes Tertaas and Rebecca Leeda.

Three of Clara's four brothers were killed during the Shoa: Leman, Coenraad and Hartog. One brother survived the war.  Clara was probably arrested during an attempt to flee abroad. On 29 August 1942 she was deported from the Mechelen transit camp in Belgium to Auschwitz with Transport VI and most likely killed immediately upon arrival there.

Chana Cieszkowska was born in Bendzin on 23 August 1900, she was a business woman. Arrested in Bruxelles, Saint-Gilles and put on Transport IX leaving Mechelen 12 September 1942.

Szajndla Mendelsohn was born in Bendzin on 1 January 1926, she was a seemstress. Szmul Mendelsohn was born in Bendzin on 10 April 1927, he was a pupil.  Arrested in Bruxelles, Saint-Gilles and put on Transport IX leaving Mechelen 12 September 1942.

Rosa Frieda Mendelsohn was born in Antwerpen on 28 April 1931, she was a pupil.  Arrested in Bruxelles, Saint-Gilles and put on Transport IX leaving Mechelen 12 September 1942.

Anna was born on 30 December 1925 in Antwerpen, and was a student.  She was put on the list at Kazerne Dossin on 12 May 1944 and left Mechelen on 19 May 1944 on Transpost XXV, transport number 445, tattoo number 5160.

Branca van Dam was born in Deurne on 20 May 1934, died in Auschwitz, 25 May 1944. She reached the age of 10 years.

Hijman was born on 10 December 1900 in Amsterdam, died inAuschwitz, 21 May 1944.  He reached the age of 43 years.

Elisabeth was born on 11 October 1902 in Amsterdam, died in Auschwitz, 21 May 1944. She reached the age of 41 years.

Elisabeth is a daughter of Simon Lelie and Hanna Salomons. She married Hijman van Dam, 24 years old, travelling salesman by profession, son of Marcus van Dam and Branca Snoek, on April 1, 1925.

Hyman and Elisabeth think the Antwerp area is becoming too dangerous for Jews. They leave their house at Van Steenlandstraat 47 and go into hiding in Schaarbeek where they find a hiding place at Emiel Verhaerenlaan 34. They probably do this via a resistance helpline.

Rebecca Lelie, a sister of Elisabeth, lives with her nineteen-year-old daughter Henriette (Jettie) nearby at Van Havrelei 17 in Deurne. A third Lelie sister, Sientje, also lives nearby, in the Karel De Preterlei in Borgerhout. The three of them meet in the spring of 1944 for a small family reunion at the Schaarbeek hiding place. Despite all the caution, things go wrong there. Rebecca with her daughter Jettie and Sientje with her deaf son Hans are just visiting when the Security Police invade. They probably weren't snitched, but it was a fateful coincidence. The people in hiding receive food vouchers from the resistance and the Nazis track down that aid circuit. This also brings Dam-Lelie's family into their sights.

The entire family is arrested and Anna van Dam Antwerp is taken to the Dossin barracks. From Mechelen they were deported to Auschwitz on May 19, 1944 with transport XXV. This applies to all eight members of the family who are in Schaerbeek on that day: Hyman van Dam, Elisabeth Lelie, Anna and Branca van Dam, Rebecca Lelie, Jettie Swaalep, Sientje Lelie and Hans Bakker. Only Anna van Dam and her cousin Jettie Swaalep survive the extermination camp after nine months of terrible camp life.

Isaac Serlui was the son of Levie Samuel Serlui and Jansje Hijman. Isaac was married in 1892 and had four children. His daughter Frederika Serlui died in the war, his wife and three children survived. Isaac Serlui has been imprisoned in Buchenwald. His Prisoner Number was 48782.