Ten brass plaques lodged between cobblestones in memory of Jews deported and killed by the Nazis were stolen on the anniversary of October 7 in the German town of Zeitz.
Ten stones that memorialised victims of the Holocaust in a German town were discovered to be missing on Monday, the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, reports The Times of Israel.
The “stumbling stones,” called “Stolpersteine” in German, were brass plaques lodged between cobblestones in front of the houses where Jews lived before the Nazis deported and killed them.
Stones similar to those dislodged and stolen in Zeitz have been placed across Europe and serve as a memorial to Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis, listing their names, birthdates and what is known of their fates — including their arrests, deportation to concentration camps and deaths.
The city of Zeitz and the Stolpersteine for Zeitz initiative have organised a fundraising campaign to replace the stolen stumbling stones, which were laid in various locations across the city, with just over 30,000 residents. They also planned a memorial march for October 19 that will pass all the locations of the stolen stones.
Götz Ulrich county governor condemned the crime in a statement on X, calling it “unforgivable and never excusable”. “Whoever did this also wants to tear the #Holocaust out of our #CultureofRemembrance,” he wrote.
Considering the date of the vandalism, Mayor Kathrin Weber said she saw it as clearly “politically motivated” and called it “an attack on our democracy.”
Sebastian Striegel, a member of state parliament for the Green Party, also posted images of the crime. In coordination with the Zeitz Alliance for Diversity and Democracy and the Stolpersteine for Zeitz initiative, Striegel offered a reward of 1,000 euros for information that leads to the arrest of the perpetrators and the return of the stones.
Federal police have taken over the investigation to track down those responsible.
Photo credit: AP Photo/Markus Schreiber via The Times of Israel
More News
