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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 Mortsel

Antwerpsestraat 80: OCTAVIA MARIA VAN THILLO

Antwerpsestraat 181. JEAN LEOPOLD DOCK

Antwerpsestraat 239. ARMANDUS LUDOVICUS GULDENTOPS

Deurnestraat 31: PETRUS VERBRAEKEN

Drabstraat 86-88: WILLY CHARLES EMIEL OPPALFENS

Drabstraat 108: JEAN FRANCOIS DANCKAERT

Edward Arsenstraat 30: MARCEL VAN SERVEYT

Guido Gezellelaan 74: ROGER HENRI RESSELER

Hendrik Kuijpersstraat 63: JOSEPHUS VERSPAGEN

Kapellelei 2: HELENE LOUISE DESGUIN

Krijgsbaan 194-196: JULIEN-GERARD ALLAERT

Ridder van Ranstlei 49: ELIAZAR VAN HOUTEN

                                          HELENA MENIST

                                          LEA VAN HOUTEN

                                          HERMAN VAN HOUTEN

Ridder van Ranstlei 73: FRANK CRAEYBECKX

Ridder van Ranstlei 83: KAREL HENDRIK DERKZEN VAN ANGEREN

Octavia Maria Van Thillo, born in Antwerp in 1899, lived in Mortsel with her husband, Leo Verhaegen. A housewife by profession, she joined the Beaver-Baton resistance group. On November 30, 1943, Octavia Maria was arrested in her home by the GFP 712 and transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp. On January 13, 1945, she succumbed to illness and hardship in the camp hospital.

Jean Leopold Elie Dock, born in Berchem in 1925, was a member of the Secret Army during the war (membership number 602.372). On September 15, 1943, Jean Leopold was arrested by the Gestapo and taken to Dora Mittelbau, where he died on March 24, 1945. The specific circumstances are unknown. His remains remain missing to this day.

Armandus Ludovicus Guldentops, born in 1907 in Mortsel, lived at Antwerpsestraat 221, now number 239.  Amandus was arrested in his home by the Gestapo on July 6, 1944, and transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp. He died on April 21, 1945, during the death march after liberation, near Goldenhoch Joachimsthal (CZ), due to illness and hardship.

Petrus Verbraeken, born in Berchem in 1907, and married to Marie-Angela De Strooper. During the Second World War Petrus joined the Independence Front. On March 19, 1942, he was arrested in Mortsel by the Security Police (SiPo) and transferred to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he died on August 22, 1942, under unclear circumstances.

Willy Charles Emiel Oppalfens, born in 1907 in Wilrijk, was a clerk by profession and married to Clara Walgraeve. During the war, he was a member of the resistance group the Witte Brigade – Fidelio. On May 22, 1944, Willy Charles was arrested and transferred to the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp, where he died in early April 1945. His remains are still missing to this day.

Jean François Danckaert, born in Mechelen in 1883, and married to Henriette Moens.  He was a decorated officer in the Belgian army during the First World War. During the Second World War, he served as a commander in the resistance group the White Brigade. There, he was involved in the production and distribution of the resistance newspaper "Steeds Verenigd – Unis Toujours" (Always United – Always Together).

On January 15, 1944, Jean François was arrested at his home by the Gestapo for patriotic activities and transferred to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. On November 30, 1944, Jean François succumbed to heart failure due to exhaustion, hardship, and abuse.

Marcel was born in Paris on December 10, 1912. On February 5, 1931, he volunteered for service in the 6th Line Regiment. On May 10, 1940, he was part of the 11th Company of the 28th Line Regiment (a duplication of the 6th Line Regiment upon mobilization).

After the surrender of the Belgian army on May 28, 1940, Marcel also joined the NKB resistance group in Antwerp. He was involved in organizing this group in the province of Antwerp and established a service for intelligence and the transfer of weapons.  On April 24, 1942, he was arrested by the occupying forces and imprisoned in the prisons of Antwerp and Sint-Gillis. He was sentenced to death by the military court of Antwerp on January 11, 1943. Several pleas for clemency were denied. On July 10, 1943, Marcel was executed by firing squad at the National Shooting Range in Brussels, along with his colleagues from the 6th Line Regiment, Rudolf Van Hoorick and François Zaunbreckers.

His daughter Jessie was one year old at the time. His young son Raymond perished in the failed American bombing of the Erla factories in Mortsel on April 5, 1943.

Roger Henri Resseler, born in Mortsel in 1926, was still a schoolboy when he joined the Secret Army and the NKB (Dutch Royal Dutch Army). On August 25, 1943, he was arrested and transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.  When the camp was liberated by the British on April 15, 1945, Roger was still alive. However, a few days later, in April, he died under unclear circumstances.

Josephus Verspagen, born in Berchem in 1909, was a diamond cutter by trade and maried with Florentina Thys.

He was a member of the Independence Front. On December 20, 1941, Josephus was arrested by the Gestapo in Berchem and transferred to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he died in the winter of 1943.

Hélène Louise Desguin, born in 1909 in Montevideo and married to Leon Caumartin.

The Desguin family played an important role in the Van Niftrik route. Together with three other friendly families they maintained the first leg of an escape route that guided refugees across the Channel towards England. In this leg, refugees usually encountered the Van Niftrik, Meeus, Van Dulken, and Desguin families, who helped them flee further to unoccupied France. From there, they could travel on to England.

It was often Mother Marie-Louise and Hélène themselves who put refugees on the train to Paris in Antwerp. Hélène's brother Charles-André, who lived in the student quarter there, then accompanied them further. On June 9, 1941, Hélène attempted to cross the border into unoccupied France near Arbois, in the French department of Jura. After a brief period of imprisonment, she first settled in the Hôtel de la Balance, after which she rented a room in the town shortly thereafter.

In Arbois, too, Hélène continued her resistance. She befriended a German soldier and a German customs officer. Through these connections, she managed to extract crucial information to smuggle refugees across the border via the Van Niftrik route. During that period, Hélène frequently traveled back and forth between Arbois and Antwerp. In November 1941, she met Nina Baumgarten and Lydia van den Broek. On December 5, Hélène helped escort the two, along with an unknown Jewish woman, across the border by taxi. However, they were stopped and briefly detained. Although Hélène was released, she would later be arrested by the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) in France on June 9, 1943. She was transferred to Belgium, where she became seriously ill. On December 15, 1943, Hélène Louise Desguin died of illness and hardship while in captivity in Saint-Gilles.

Julien-Gerard Allaert, born in Lichtervelde in 1902, lived with his wife Irène Verbeke and their three children at 46 Krijgsbaan. During the war, Julien worked as a foreman of electricians in the NMBS signaling service. This position gave him a unique insight into the comings and goings of trains, and it was clear to him that he could share this information to benefit a possible liberation. He therefore joined the National Royal Movement.

On December 10, 1943, however, Julien was arrested by the Geheime Feldpolizei 712 (GFP) and transferred to the Gross-Rosen concentration camp, where he succumbed to hardship and exhaustion on November 20, 1944. He was posthumously awarded the War Cross by the Belgian State.

At house number 49 lie the stumbling blocks of the Jewish Van Houtven-Menist family. Eliasar, Helena, and their son Herman came to live in Mortsel from the Netherlands in 1919, where their daughter Lea was born in 1924.  But as Jews, they essentially had no chance when World War II broke out. Eliasar, Helena, and Lea arrived in Auschwitz from the Dossin Barracks in August 1942 on the sixth transport.  

“Son Herman ended up as a forced laborer in camps in northern France. He, too, was eventually deported. Nothing is known about their subsequent fate. In March 1950, following a court ruling, a civil servant wrote in the population registers after their names that they had died in Auschwitz,” says Bruno Gastmans of the Mortsel Historical Society.

After the liberation, their home was requisitioned to house English citizens.

Frank Craeybeckx is one of the people who received a stumbling block. "He was primarily active in various resistance newspapers and provided false papers for people who had to go into hiding," says Jasper Van Steenbergen. Craeybeckx was his grandmother's brother.  "At some point, he was arrested and taken to Fort Breendonk. Ultimately, he was sent to the camp in Mauthausen, where he died."

Frank Craeybeckx, nephew of former Antwerp mayor Lode Craeybeckx, was arrested by the German police at house number 73 at the age of 18. His cousin Veronica Joris and second cousin Jasper Van Steenbergen have been researching his story in recent years. "Frank developed a strong sense of justice very early on. At sixteen, he and his cousin Jan founded a cell of the communist Revolutionary People's Youth of Flanders from the Berchem grammar school. He wrote and distributed anti-German propaganda, provided false papers to people in hiding, and recruited new members," Jasper and Veronica explain.

On August 2, 1942, he was arrested in the Ridder Van Ranstlei. His parents were unaware of his resistance activities. Jasper gathered from diaries that they continued to hope for his return until after 1945. "But he had already died on February 26, 1943, in the Mauthausen camp. A fellow prisoner later told him that he had received Frank's coat after Frank had told him he was going to die anyway," Jasper adds.

Karel Henri Derkzen Van Angeren lived at number 83 on April 14, 1942. The Dutchman was arrested there on suspicion of espionage.

Until the Dutch army laid down its arms in 1940, he was a soldier defending Zeeland. He had extensive contacts with the Dutch resistance and took over the espionage network of family member Tony Derkzen when he was forced to flee.

On September 25, 1943, Karel was sentenced to death in Berlin for espionage. On November 20, he was sent to Klingelpütz Prison in Cologne, where he was executed.