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German town honors Jews who once lived there
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BY: ARLENE FINE Senior Staff Reporter
Unlike most people whose relatives fled Nazi Germany without leaving a trace, Roy Gonsenhauser can stand in front of his relatives’ home in Bad Berleburg, Germany.
He can even visit the nearby cemetery, where many of his ancestors are buried and stop at the synagogue where they worshipped.
The Bentleyville resident recently returned to the town north of Frankfort, at the invitation of the town council, for a special “stone setting.”
Outside each of the 35 homes formerly occupied by Jewish families who lived in the town, is a concrete stolpersteine (stumbling block) neatly paved into the street with the name of its former Jewish occupants etched on a bronze plaque. The blocks include each resident’s date of birth, and, when appropriate or known, the date of death.
These blocks are part of a concerted effort by the town’s citizens to honor its 750-year history by paying homage to the Jewish families who lived there for many generations before the Nazis came.
“All of these Jews either fled the Nazis, like my family, or were murdered in the camps,” says Gonsenhauser. “Of the 35 engraved stumbling blocks in place, seven of them had the Gonsenhauser name on them. My family had lived in that village for at least 300 years.”
Gonsenhauser, who was invited to speak at the stone dedication ceremony, was joined by other Bad Berleburg Jewish descendants. He met Jews from Holland, France and Israel, who had traveled to the town for the ceremony at the request of the mayor.
Delivering the speech where his family had lived and flourished was very emotional for Gonsenhauser. “I wrote my speech in English and had a friend translate it into perfect German,” he says. “When I said what was in my heart, I wanted my German to be flawless so everyone would understand me. It was important to convey the depth of my feelings about the significance of the occasion.”
During his 20-minute speech, Gonsenhauser explained that because of the integral role and contributions Jews had made to German culture for centuries, the destruction of its Jews was such a tremendous loss to German society as a whole.
“Jews had already lived in that part of Europe since 350 B.C.E., long before it was called Germany, and, over time, our contributions were enormous,” he says.
The town’s mayor and the state representative, Gonsenhauser says, echoed his sentiments. “I came away feeling this was a healing moment for the people living in this town. I realized they are still grappling with the horrors and injustice of the Holocaust.”
The stolpersteines are the inspiration of Cologne artist Gunter Demnig. Last year, 12,500 of the inscribed memorial blocks were laid in front of Jewish homes in 277 German towns and cities, as well as in Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands.
“Demnig wanted to preserve the names of the people who suffered through the Holocaust,” says Gonsenhauser. “He put their names on paving stones that rested on the ground because people had to bow down in order to read them.”
After the ceremony, Gonsenhauser visited the synagogue where his ancestors had worshipped, which has been converted to another use. “I stood in front of the former synagogue and saw the nails in the doorjamb that had once held a mezuzah,” he says.
He also accompanied a German friend who took him to a Jewish cemetery in the town of Wetter. It was in a deeply wooded area, three miles out of town.
“In the middle of a forest, I discovered a clearing with a cemetery that was beautifully tended and neatly fenced off,” he says. “Since I had a copy of my family tree with me, I found many relatives, including my great-grandparents, who were buried side-by-side. There is still so much Jewish history remaining in small
European villages and towns.”
afine@cjn.org
He can even visit the nearby cemetery, where many of his ancestors are buried and stop at the synagogue where they worshipped.
The Bentleyville resident recently returned to the town north of Frankfort, at the invitation of the town council, for a special “stone setting.”
Outside each of the 35 homes formerly occupied by Jewish families who lived in the town, is a concrete stolpersteine (stumbling block) neatly paved into the street with the name of its former Jewish occupants etched on a bronze plaque. The blocks include each resident’s date of birth, and, when appropriate or known, the date of death.
These blocks are part of a concerted effort by the town’s citizens to honor its 750-year history by paying homage to the Jewish families who lived there for many generations before the Nazis came.
“All of these Jews either fled the Nazis, like my family, or were murdered in the camps,” says Gonsenhauser. “Of the 35 engraved stumbling blocks in place, seven of them had the Gonsenhauser name on them. My family had lived in that village for at least 300 years.”
Gonsenhauser, who was invited to speak at the stone dedication ceremony, was joined by other Bad Berleburg Jewish descendants. He met Jews from Holland, France and Israel, who had traveled to the town for the ceremony at the request of the mayor.
Delivering the speech where his family had lived and flourished was very emotional for Gonsenhauser. “I wrote my speech in English and had a friend translate it into perfect German,” he says. “When I said what was in my heart, I wanted my German to be flawless so everyone would understand me. It was important to convey the depth of my feelings about the significance of the occasion.”
During his 20-minute speech, Gonsenhauser explained that because of the integral role and contributions Jews had made to German culture for centuries, the destruction of its Jews was such a tremendous loss to German society as a whole.
“Jews had already lived in that part of Europe since 350 B.C.E., long before it was called Germany, and, over time, our contributions were enormous,” he says.
The town’s mayor and the state representative, Gonsenhauser says, echoed his sentiments. “I came away feeling this was a healing moment for the people living in this town. I realized they are still grappling with the horrors and injustice of the Holocaust.”
The stolpersteines are the inspiration of Cologne artist Gunter Demnig. Last year, 12,500 of the inscribed memorial blocks were laid in front of Jewish homes in 277 German towns and cities, as well as in Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands.
“Demnig wanted to preserve the names of the people who suffered through the Holocaust,” says Gonsenhauser. “He put their names on paving stones that rested on the ground because people had to bow down in order to read them.”
After the ceremony, Gonsenhauser visited the synagogue where his ancestors had worshipped, which has been converted to another use. “I stood in front of the former synagogue and saw the nails in the doorjamb that had once held a mezuzah,” he says.
He also accompanied a German friend who took him to a Jewish cemetery in the town of Wetter. It was in a deeply wooded area, three miles out of town.
“In the middle of a forest, I discovered a clearing with a cemetery that was beautifully tended and neatly fenced off,” he says. “Since I had a copy of my family tree with me, I found many relatives, including my great-grandparents, who were buried side-by-side. There is still so much Jewish history remaining in small
European villages and towns.”
afine@cjn.org
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