Right here stands the Holocaust Memorial Stone. It marks a poignant moment in history. It serves as a stark reminder of the atrocities of the Holocaust. The Holocaust Memorial Stone echoes the stories of victims.
The UK’s first brass memorial plaque for a Holocaust victim was unveiled in London. It is a Stolperstein stone. The stone was laid in Golden Square Soho. This is where Ada von Dantzig worked. She was murdered at Auschwitz in 1943 along with her family.
Gunter Demnig created the plaques. He has placed thousands across Europe. Demnig’s work brings the Holocaust closer to home. It makes it intrude into our everyday lives.
Dr. Toby Simpson from the Wiener Holocaust Library said most people are not aware of how close to home the Holocaust was. The stones are important. They make this history personal. They attach it to specific places.
Ada van Dantzig was Dutch. She came to London to learn painting conservation. She worked in the studio of Helmut Ruhemann. He was a German Jew. He fled Berlin after being sacked from his post.
When Ms. van Dantzig learned her family was at risk she returned home. She wanted to aid their escape. The escape plan failed. Her whole family was deported to Auschwitz except one brother.
Ms. van Dantzig and her parents were killed at the camp. This was on February 14 1943. Her sister had been killed two weeks earlier. Her brother was killed two months later.
The artist conceived the project 25 years ago. It started as a one-off art-memory installation. Now there are over 100000 brass plaques in 26 countries.
Stolpersteine are German for stumbling blocks. They commemorate the fate of people who were murdered deported expelled or driven to suicide by the German Nazis. They are usually in front of the victim’s last self-chosen place of residence.
The first Stolperstein in London was laid on May 30 2022. It is the only one in the United Kingdom to date. Ada van Dantzig was born on August 3 1918 in Rotterdam. Her parents were David van Dantzig and Wilhelmina Jacoba van Dantzig-Catz.
She had three siblings. Their names were Paul Hermann Jenny Louise and Hugo Michel. Van Dantzig became a restorer of paintings. From 1934 she worked in a private studio in London.
After the outbreak of World War II in 1939 van Dantzig returned to her family in Rotterdam. She ignored the advice of friends and colleagues. In May 1940 the Netherlands were overrun by German troops. The family fled to France. They were betrayed and arrested because they were Jewish.
Ada van Dantzig her sister her brother Paul and her parents were brought to the Drancy internment camp. From there all four family members were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. The deportation train left Drancy on February 11 1943. It arrived at the Auschwitz gas chambers on February 14 1943.
Ada van Dantzig her mother and her sister were murdered there immediately upon arrival. Paul van Dantzig was murdered by the Nazis in March 1943. David van Dantzig in October 1943. The only survivor was Ada’s brother Hugo. He was captured but he had a false identity as a South African soldier. He was interned as a prisoner of war. He was liberated in 1945. He died in 2009.
The Stolperstein for Ada van Dantzig was placed by the artist himself. It was financed through fundraising. The presence of this memorial hundreds of miles from Auschwitz may seem strange. But it is key to Demnig’s vision.
The Holocaust Memorial Stone. It is more than just a marker. It’s a call to remember. It’s a pledge to prevent such horrors from ever happening again.