Stichting Struikelstenen Haarlem is pleasantly surprised by the enormous interest of homeowners in placing the memorial stones for Holocaust victims. Another 45 have been laid and revealed this week. And with that, the project to give all 733 Jewish Haarlem residents who died in the Second World War a place in the city again, has come a step closer to their goal.
It seems that the fact that you are confronted every day with the previous residents who did not return from the extermination camps after the Second World War is perceived as less and less objectionable. In fact, it gives more meaning to your own enjoyment of living.
“The fact that they looked through the same stained glass as I do now, gives a certain emotion. But it won’t be heavy,” explains one Sven Hoogervorst. He took the initiative to place four stones in front of his door on the Veenbergplein in Haarlem-Noord. At the time, the Brave family lived in his house with two children, one of whom was only a baby.
His neighbor Joris de Lij also received the stumbling stones from Felix Guttmann’s family. They recently found an old movie with their deceased relatives Thijs, Roos and their daughters Greetje and Paula, who lived on the Veenbergplein.
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Stumbling stones on Veenbergplein – NH Nieuws / Geja Sikma
Judith Uyterlinde of the Stichting Struikelstenen Haarlem sees the agenda of the stone laying filling up. Fortunately, more and more volunteers are joining us to make sure everything runs smoothly. For there is much to be researched and discussed for each stumbling stone.
There are often special stories on the table. Such as the story of Salamon and Johanna Annelise Simons, who lived on Zaanenlaan with their two children. The brothers survived the war and grew up in the United States, but hardly knew anything about their parents. Until the current residents found a baby book in the attic during the renovation. “When those people personally brought the book to the US, they knew that their parents loved them so much,” says Judith Uyterlinde of Stichting Struikelstenen.
International attention
The stumbling blocks in the Netherlands have also attracted attention abroad. Documentary maker Jane I. Wells follows New York’s bereaved Ulirka Grünwald Citron, who attends or visits the stone-laying of her dead relatives. The ceremonies will be recorded for the film, which will take place this week in Haarlem. Ulrika is very inspired by how much there is interest in history and to learn from it. “Especially on a local level on their streets.”